Travelling Bimbler: Palos Hills Park, Chicago

As you all know by now, this moose is migratory. I’m currently spending my work-weeks

in the suburban Chicago area, which you might think is just one traffic light after the next. For the most part, you’re right! There’s also plenty of malls, traffic, restaurants, and trivialities to keep the fauna from seeing the floura so to speak.

Through some hoof-stroke work, Google helped me find a respectable “mountain bike” park in Palos Hills, about 20 minutes South of Downers Grove where I’m staying. The Palos Hills Park, or Palos Trail System is managed by the Cook County Forest Preserve, and seems roughly equivalent in size to our beloved Westwoods Preserve.

The Palos Park Trail system is adequately marked (although carrying a map is still useful) and expansive for a city park. To date, I’ve only explored a small section of the trail – which keeps me motivated to get out & go a bit further next time to see more. Each time, I’m rewarded with slight elevation changes (this is Illinois…100 feet of change is major) lightly-packed dirt and sometimes sandy trails, and excellent scenery (all away from traffic).

On my second excursion to the park, I got turned around (didn’t think to bring a map) and ended up around a ‘slough’ (rain-fed shallow pond). I stopped to get my bearings, and noticed a female & male deer eating by the pond about 30 feet from me. I have never seen a horned buck on a run before, so I took my time watching & headed quietly away.

Maybe 2 minutes later, I see a small dog trot out on the trail in front of me, maybe 20 yards or so. The dog stopped, and looked at me – and I then realized that it was NOT a dog, but a coyote! The coyote didn’t seem to mind me too much, and certainly had made up it’s mind that the trail was the best route for wherever it was going. The coyote stayed trotting in front of me for a few minutes, me following (amazed, excited, cautious) behind it. That was incredible! And, I’m 30 miles from Chicago…

The trails have a definite ‘mountain bike’ flavor, with ‘whoop-de-doos’ and neatly positioned logs across streams, etc. Sometimes it’s annoying, and I definitely spend some time thinking about difference between trail runners and mountain bikers. But, I try not to let it bug me too much. For the most part, bikers that I’ve encountered on this trail system are very polite, and announce themselves (and tell me how many of them are coming) which is helpful for a runner.

On my last jaunt, I took an unmarked path for a little side-trip. I came upon a stone marker, which looked a bit ominous. I read the warning, and said to myself “Okay. Radioactive waste is buried here. Oh, there is a marked canister sticking out of the ground. Hmmm… I think I’ll be leaving now!”

Note: I will be sure to document any evidence of 3-eyed or 3-tailed creatures, and report back to the group.

The park has plenty of parking areas with port-a-johns, shelters, and picnic areas. However, the trails are still rarely travelled by runners, and I am sure to see 6-10 bikes along the way. Still better than cars, or staring at myself in a mirror on a treadmill at the hotel.

To date, I’ve explored the northwest quarter of the park. I start out at Red Gate Woods, follow Orange to Green to Blue & circle Bullfrog Lake (haven’t heard any yet). I take the Yellow to a small Black loop, and then head back to the parking area following Orange. This run takes me about 90 minutes, and the pace is decent. So, I think I could easily put a 2.5 – 3 hour run together here, although the park closes at sunset.

The most technical part of the trail are the mountain bike obstacles, and the trenches the bikes leave in the dirt when the trails are wet. I’ve been running in flexible (for me) trail shoes, with no ankle braces (knock, knock, knock) and have been doing well. So, leave the Hardrocks at home, and pack your Kayano’s for this one.