I&M Canal Trail
Stratton State Park near Morris

In the distance (to the left) is the lock keepers house at lock #8 near Morris, Illinois on the Illinois & Michigan Canal Trail as we continued our ride west. I have actually seen some much nicer photos of this house and scene on the internet but this photo was taken with a very old digital camera and my goal for this photo tour was more to document the look and feel of the trail. The photos in the second part of the I&M Canal Trail photo tour (starting with photo page 8) are much higher quality.

One of the bridges that crosses the canal giving you access to the town. These photos are near Morris so I'm sure that you could go into Morris via this bridge.

Above is another straight and flat part of the I&M Trail just before we reached WG Stratton State Park where we took a break.

The photo above is William G Stratton State Park near Morris with the Illinois River in the background. This park is right off of the I&M Canal Trail and between the canal and the river.

We had a few sandwiches here by the river. It's was a nice place for a break. One thing that was nice about taking our break here in this opening by the river is that we didn't have to deal with mosquitoes since this was a nice open and breezy area.

You typically do not want to stop for long on the more swampy wooded parts of the trail in the summer (mosquito season). Especially in the early evening (unless you want to be the snack!)

The photo above shows the bigger picture with the Illinois River on the left, the I&M Canal Trail in the center and the actual canal on the right.

This photo was taken as we continued our trip west (towards Seneca) from Morris. Actually you can tell the direction easily since the canal is north of the river.