The Illinois Prairie Path Newsletter
Summer 1997

- Nancy Wasielewski, Editor -

Thanks to Volunteers for a Great Earth Day Cleanup!

• BATAVIA SPUR, Ed Barsotti
  Volunteer Paul Ferguson cleaned up the Path just north of Butterfield Road, where winds blew trash from new housing construction. The new housing construction's sales office was notified of the construction debris on the Path by both Paul Ferguson and Ed Barsotti. The Barsotti and Blokland families cleaned up the same area, continuing Paul's work.

• BELLWOOD, Susan Wisniewski
  April 12 was the original date chosen for the Bellwood cleanup, but we had to cancel due to inclement weather. We rescheduled to sunny May 10, and met at the Boys & Girls Club. There was a very enthusiastic turnout of 40 boys and girls, who were given orange juice, cookies, and donuts prior to the cleanup. I showed them where they were on the IPP map and where the trail went, and told them a bit of history about May Theilgaard Watts, who was 70 years old when she began the IPP movement, and how one person's voice really can count.

  Officer Jack Bridson of the Bellwood Bike Police gave a very interesting talk and demonstration. Then Pat Gartland and Ed Sheehan, the Directors of the Club, took the volunteers out for the cleanup, beginning directly behind the Club just east of Mannheim and working their way eastward. Loretha Cole, Assistant Program Director of the Boys & Girls Club, helped coordinate the volunteers. Frank Hasman represented the Village Trustees, and Larry Doyle and the Viilage Streets Department gave us their usual wonderful support which included gloves, garbage bags, trucks, and workers. Afterward, we had a pizza party generously donated by Mayor Lemm of Bellwood, with a discount on the pizzas given to us by Nick's Pizzeria on Bellwood Avenue and St. Paul.

• ELMHURST, Steve Plumb
  Along the two miles of the IPP between I-290 and Salt Creek, 140 people picked up lots of trash.

• GLEN ELLYN (Report #1), Jean C. Mooring
  Having participated in every Glen Ellyn IPP spring cleanup since about 1970, I can say this was one of our best in many years. In three hours on the morning of Saturday, April 19, approximately 70 trail fans, including 32 members of the Glenfield Baptist Church of Glen Ellyn, gathered up two truckloads of debris. Two village employees driving a village truck and front end loader scooped up and hauled the junk away. Besides the expected cans, bottles, paper, and plastic bagged by the willing hands of the many volunteers, one truckload consisted of mainly logs, roots, stumps, and dead bushes carelessly left on the Prairie Path right-of-way between Main and Prospect by employees of the various utilities that have worked on that section of the Path in recent months. Mark Newel, longtime friend of the Prairie Path, hauled out much of that truckload of unsightly wood debris himself and piled it neatly by the trail for pickup.

  Warren Senneke, who directed the project on behalf of the Glen Ellyn Environmental Commission from his command post at Prairie Path Park, was enthusiastic about the number of volunteers and what they accomplished. "It was a great cleanup, thanks to all those caring people. Our section of the Path looks neat and clean," he said.

• GLEN ELLYN (Report #2), Bob Bernero
  Volunteers met at Prairie Path Park on April 19. The village provided trash bags and a truck that picked up the filled bags left at the cross streets. Thanks to volunteer recruiters including Jim Tuinenga who contacted the scouting groups at various local churches and Harley Jordan who contacted youth groups at the YMCA. I contacted 12 volunteers from a list of local members who had expressed an interest in volunteering.

• LOMBARD, Dick Wilson
  Six people worked for three hours cleaning up the Lombard section of the Path, starting at Main Street and going west to the I-355 bridge.

• WARRENVILLE, Bob Rawls
  The Warrenville section of the IPP cleanup took place on Saturday, April 19. For the second year, Brownie Troop 305, with Troop Leaders Donna Coleman and Sue Cirock, and members of the Rawls Family were there in force to make sure the Path was clean and prepared for the upcoming season. The Brownies worked very hard picking up litter and debris that had accumulated over the past year. They gathered 14 bags of trash. Our thanks to Troop 305 and their troop leaders for their help.

• WHEATON, David Tate
  Again this year the Wheaton Environmental Improvement Commission (WEIC) coordinated a thorough Earth Day cleanup along eight miles of the Prairie Path. Kathy Williamson coordinated the WEIC's cleanup along the Path and had a very good turnout of over 160 people that registered at the table that was set up at Lincoln Street. The WEIC provided recycling bags, coffee, orange juice, and donuts to the volunteers. The IPP, a not-for-profit corporation, funded the table and also gave to each cleanup volunteer its large multi-colored trail map.

  The WEIC coordinators Kathy Williamson, Paul Zanke, Ted Witte, Tracy Vought, and Helen Bartlett assigned cleanup teams to the two miles of the Prairie Path Main Stem up to the Glen Ellyn border, the one and a half miles of the Elgin Branch to Pleasant Hill Road, and almost five miles of the Aurora Branch down to Warrenville Road.

  (picture omitted)

  
  Wheaton: Girl Scout Pack 306 and Cub Scout Pack 369, both from Wheaton, combine their efforts in cleaning the IPP's Main Stem. Pack leaders were Bernie Ishmael and Mary Schlick.

• WINFIELD, David Tate
  I was responsible for the three-mile cleanup of the Prairie Path Elgin Branch from Pleasant Hill Road to Prince Crossing Road.

Batavia Spur Bridge Under Construction

Prairie Path users have been complaining for years about having to cross four lanes of high speed traffic at Kirk Road on the Batavia Spur.

Now at last there is good news! The long-awaited Batavia Spur bridge is under construction and its completion is expected in June, according to Jon Duerr, Director of Field Services for the Kane County Forest Preserve District. He reports that the prefab bridge, made of Cor-Ten steel, will have an arched middle section over Kirk Road 160 feet long and 18 feet high at the center protected by a chain link fence rounded at the top along both sides. There will be a 40-foot span at each end leading to an earthen ramp 250-300 feet long to allow a maximum 5% slope. When Kirk Road is widened to six lanes in the near future, the bridge will comfortably span it. There will also be an access trail between the bridge and the north-south trail along the west side of Kirk Road.

The Illinois Department of Transportation is building the bridge, which will cost $630,000. Of this 80% is a Federal ISTEA grant, matched by 20% from the Forest Preserve District, less a $40,000 Illinois Department of Natural Resources bicycle grant.

Bird Watchers Enjoy Annual Illinois Prairie Path Bird Walk

The Magnolia Warbler, the Chestnut-Sided Warbler, the Baltimore Oriole, the Scarlet Tanager and the Rose-Breasted Grosbeak were some of the many spring migrants spotted by 16 Prairie Path members and Audobon Society members on the Illinois Prairie Path's annual Bird Walk in Pratt's Wayne Woods on May 17. The hike is held each year at the best time to see Warblers and this year the group saw eight, along with dozens of other species.

The group also enjoyed a side trip through a Boy Scout Voyageur encampment. The scouts showed the group how people at that time dressed and lived, including how to start a fire with flint and steel.

Two New members Join IPP Board

Mike Cross

Mike Cross joined the Illinois Prairie Path Board in April soon after he started developing the IPP's homepage on the world wide web. He lives in Naperville near the intersection of the IPP's Aurora Branch and Batavia Spur and routinely bicycles the 30-mile Wheaton-Batavia-Geneva-Wheaton triangle on the IPP and the Fox River Trail. Mike is also an avid rock climber.

Mike developed the IPP's homepage on the web as his way of promoting Rails-to-Trails in general and the IPP specifically. It includes IPP Newsletters, trail enhancements, Path events, a map, recommended bicycle rides, trail history and more. To view the IPP's homepage that Mike developed, either search on "Illinois Prairie Path" or enter the following address: http://www.mcs.net/~msc/IPP

Bob Bernero

Bob Bernero joined the IPP board in February. Bob lives adjacent to the Path in Glen Ellyn and is a marathon runner. Bob likes to use the Path for his marathon training due to its surface of limestone screenings. In preparation for the Chicago Marathon, Bob will run 50 miles a week, 25 miles on the IPP and 25 miles on asphalt and concrete.

As a board member, Bob is coordinating the IPP's efforts to better communicate to users the IPP's rules-of-the-road. See the Prairie Path Adventures box on page 4 for an example of the information he is getting out to our members. Additional messages will be posted in the IPP display cases and included on free trail maps.

Exploring the Timber Ridge Trail

The Timber Ridge Trail built by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County runs more or less parallel to County Farm Road from the Prairie Path at the intersection of County Farm and Geneva Roads north to the Great Western Trail. On Mother's Day (Sunday, May 11, 1997), my wife Jean and I decided to explore the trail in spite of a forecast of light showers. We took our contractor's wheel, used to measure distances in feet, so we could record the exact locations of any interesting sights. We took two cars so we would only have to walk one way.

After a breakfast at our favorite restaurant in Wheaton, we drove to Hawthorne Lane near the north end of the new trail and left my car and Jean drove us back to the parking area at County Farm and Geneva Roads. In spite of the light rain, we started out -- me pushing the wheel and Jean armed with a notebook and pen.

At a distance of 112 feet, we came to a bridge over a small drainage ditch. The 71-foot-long bridge, built with an ISTEA grant, meets highway specifications and is wide and strong enough to carry maintenance trucks.

Not far beyond the bridge and to the west of the path lies Timber Lake with four small islands at its north end. The islands are favored as nesting sites by Canada geese. We saw a few mallards and many geese swimming in the lake including a family of six. The lake, which we measured to be about 1300 feet long, was dug not by the glacier, but by the Hammerschmidts as a gravel quarry. If the number of fishermen often seen here is any measure, it is a prized fishing site.

Across from the lake, the path is bordered by a drainage swale. According to the contractor, both sides of the path were planted with a mixture of prairie plants, though we saw no recognizable prairie forbs among the emerging grasses. Four drainage pipes (at 480 feet, 915 feet, 1315 feet, and 1565 feet) run under the trail from the swale to the lake. Between the swale and County Farm Road is a hedgerow of small trees accented by a clump of five ancient cottonwoods and two big ratty willows near the first drain pipe. We heard a Yellow Warbler singing in a small tree near the lake and a Red-Winged Blackbird flew overhead.

The north end of the lake is at 1615 feet. One hundred feet farther along, the path starts to bend slowly eastward toward the four-lane high volume County Farm Road. Beyond 1985 feet, the path runs parallel to the road some eight feet from the curb. About 75 feet west of the path is a large plowed field which is the southern edge of the operating Kline Creek Farm. At 2795 feet a seldom used access road to the farm field crosses the trail. A rustic fence separates the field from a grassy stretch populated with a few shrubs and trees west of the path.

At 2995 feet the path takes a turn to the west to bypass the paved parking lot at the entrance to Kline Creek Farm. Two port-o-lets are located down the farm lane about a hundred feet west of the information kiosk. Here we saw a Flicker heading south over the farm lane.

By the time our wheel read 3945 feet, we were back to County Farm Road only a couple of feet from the curb. There is a mature forest west of the path and north of the parking lot. The bridge over Klein Creek is only 55 feet further north. (Even though Kline Creek Farm and Klein Creek are named for the same person, they are spelled differently for some strange reason.) After crossing Klein Creek, the path turns gently towards the west through the woods and at 4425 feet the newly constructed trail runs into the main service drive to Kline Creek Farm. From here on, the Timber Ridge Trail follows the service drive.

As we walked along the service road, two Baltimore Orioles were flitting in the small trees between us and the plowed field west of the road. At 4950 feet we crossed Hawthorne Lane and followed the service drive through a treeless plowed field until we came to the Great Western Trail at 5535 feet. We had walked just over a mile in the rain. While standing there looking up and down the Great Western, we heard a Killdeer overhead and saw several Goldfinches. When we returned to our car, we found deer prints in the dried mud. It was a good way to spend Mother's Day.

Editor's Note: For more information about the Timber Ridge Trail see page 4 of the Illinois Prairie Path's 1996 Fall Newsletter.

Side Trips

Elmhurst Offers Interesting Path Diversions

By Steve Plumb

Elmhurst, located at the eastern edge of DuPage County, is one of the oldest and most interesting communities on the Prairie Path. The community is home to approximately two miles of the Illinois Prairie Path, between I-290 and Salt Creek.

This section of the Path is unique for several reasons. First, it is the only section leased and managed by a local public agency -- the Elmhurst Park District. The District owns the Great Western trackbed which parallels the IPP on the north, and leases the Chicago, Aurora, and Elgin trackbed which contains the Path surface. The District manages both sections as one unit.

Second, the section is one of only two lighted sections -- Villa Park is the other. Lights were installed by the People for Elmhurst Parks, and sponsorships are available for sale at $1,000 per pole (call Jean Haselhorst at 630-832-7786 for information).

Shooting Star Trail

Finally, the Elmhurst Great Western Prairie (EGWP), an outstanding six acre prairie remnant, is located immediately adjacent to the Illinois Prairie Path between Salt Creek and Spring Road. The recently completed Shooting Star Nature Trail takes visitors along a one-mile, self-guided loop which begins at Spring Road. A wide variety of colorful prairie plants, including the namesake Shooting Star, are on display throughout the Spring and Fall months. The EGWP is being renovated and managed by the Elmhurst Park District with the assistance of the District's Prairie Management Advisory Commission.

Local Amenities

For bicyclists, joggers, walkers, and other persons using this section of the Path, there are amenities galore! Drinking fountains and picnic facilities are located at York Road, Pioneer Park (at the railroad crossing east of Spring Road), and Spring Road. Public parking lots can be found south of the Path just east of York Road, and on both sides of the Path at Spring Road. A play area for the smaller set is also located at Pioneer Park. A variety of eating establishments can be found near the Path at both Spring and York Roads. Stempel's Bicycle Shop is located immediately north of the Path at Spring Road.

Spring Road Sights

Other sights not to be missed include the gazebo at Spring Road, which is also the home of special events such as Spring Road Days with hay rides (June), the Elmhurst Park District's Environmental Mini-Fest (September), and winter sleigh rides (December). Probably the most beautiful area along the Path in Elmhurst is the restored Depot, Bicentennial Fountain, and perennial beds located at York Road. The perennial beds provide a riot of color from April to November!

Recommended Side Trips

Two recommended side trips along the Elmhurst section are visits to the Salt Creek Greenway Trail and the Lizzadro Museum.

• The woodchip-surfaced Salt Creek Greenway Trail starts on the east side of the creek where Crescent Street crosses Rex Boulevard. To get there if you're traveling east, cross the IPP bridge over Salt Creek and turn right at the east end. The trail proceeds along the creek to Eldridge Park at Butterfield Road. The east bank trail was constructed by the Elmhurst Park District, which is also part of a 13 agency intergovernmental effort to construct a 38 mile long bike trail to run between Busse Woods Forest Preserve on the north, along Salt Creek past the Brookfield Zoo, to the Chicago Portage National Historic Site at 147th and Harlem. The Salt Creek Greenway Trail will cross the IPP somewhere in the vicinity of Illinois Route 83.
• A second sidetrip could be taken to Wilder Park, home of the Lizzadro Museum which is the only museum of lapidary arts in North America. It is just a short ride north of the IPP along Prospect Avenue (3 blocks west of York Road). The museum contains a priceless and spectacular display of rocks, gems, and art objects that will boggle the mind of even the most uncultured Path user. There is a small admission fee on all days except Friday when admission is free.
• The Wilder Park Conservatory is also located across the parking lot from the museum and is home to spectacular flower shows in the Spring (April), Fall (November), and Winter (December).

Prairie Path Adventures

• Please don't block the path by walking 3 or 4 abreast.
• When bicycling, warn other trail users that you are passing by announcing -- "Passing on the left."
• Litter along the IPP can create hazards for other users. We rely solely on volunteers for litter pickup. Please help!

The Illinois Prairie Path Newsletter

Meetings: The Illinois Prairie Path Board of Directors meetings are held at 7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month in Rathje Park, 616 Delles Ave., Wheaton, IL 60189

Illinois Prairie Path Merchandise Available

IPP T-SHIRT $17.00

Be proud to wear the original IPP logo printed on this 100% cotton short-sleeve T-shirt. The silk-screened logo of one of the first rail trails in the United States shows symbols of the biking, hiking, and equestrian-riding its users enjoy. A Burr Oak leaf, the tree of the prairie, is also airbrushed on it. The shirts are machine washable, and available in a variety of shirt colors with black logo. Please specify size (Small, Medium, Large & X-Large) and your first 3 choices of color (depending upon availability).

IPP MAP $3.00

This popular full-color map shows you where you are and where you can go on the IPP, street by street, suburb by suburb. The photos on the back are highlighted with the history and some interesting facts about the IPP. This map is so much in demand that we can hardly keep copies of it in stock.

IPP GUIDE $4.75

This informative 32-page guide tells about the history and natural habitat of the Illinois Prairie Path. It's a must for nature enthusiasts.

IPP GIFT MEMBERSHIP $20.00 Individual/$20.00 Family

Give a unique and environmentally-conscious gift. The recipient will be sent an announcement and a full color IPP official map. Please be sure to include the full name and address of the recipient along with your own name and address.

IPP BASEBALL CAP $7.75

This white and green baseball cap with IPP logo will help protect you from the sun while you're out on the trail.

IPP OFFICIAL PATCH $2.50

The IPP logo on a green and white oval patch can easily be applied to hats, jackets, jeans and whatever you want to put it on. (3-inches high x 2.25-inches wide).

Along with your order, include your name, address, phone number, and your check made out to: The Illinois Prairie Path. Send it to: Illinois Prairie Path, P.O. Box 1086, Wheaton, IL 60189. (Tax, postage, shipping and handling are included). Allow 3-4 weeks for delivery. For more information, call our Office Manager at (630) 752-0120.

MEMBERSHIP RATES: Individual $20
                      Family $20
     Organization/Supporting $30
                  Sustaining $50
                      Patron $100
                    Lifetime $500

       Illinois Prairie Path
       P.O. Box 1086
       Wheaton, Illinois 60189