Chicago Transit Hikes - A Guide to Getting Out in Nature Without a Car

Taking the train to nature in Chicagoland

Beyond the steel and asphalt await natural spaces that are easy to access and balm for the soul. Lindsay Welbers’s guide tells readers how to use Chicagoland’s extensive public rail system to reach forests, prairies, wetlands, dunes, and Lake Michigan. Designed to take up minimal space in a backpack, Chicago Transit Hikes provides train-to-trailhead information for thirty nature treks with features that include:

• Chapters with hikes organized by each rail line on the Metra, the South Shore train, and the CTA;
• Information on everything from accessibility to dog-friendliness to flora and fauna;
• Detailed descriptions of every destination;
• Practical tips on packing lists and itineraries.

Up-to-date and user-friendly, Chicago Transit Hikes connects Chicagoans and visitors alike with excursions for every season and level of difficulty.

List of contents

Introduction

• Why Take the Train if I Already Have a Car?
• How Cars Ruined My Hike: A cautionary Tale
• What You Need
• What to Bring
• What Not to Bring
• Apps to Download
• Outdoors Safety
• COVID Safety
• Trail Etiquette
• Leave No Trace Practices
• Levels of Difficulty
• Transit Hubs
• Metra
• CTA
• South Shore Line
• Divvy
• A Note on Maps

Hikes in Chicago

• Chicago Lakefront Trail
• Museum Campus/11th Street: Northerly Island Park
• The 606
• Conservatory Green Line: Garfield Park Conservatory
• Rosemont Blue Line: Des Plaines River Trail, Catherine Chevalier Woods, and Chippewa Woods

Union Pacific North

• Hubbard Woods: Skokie Lagoons
• Fort Sheridan: Fort Sheridan Nature Preserve and Openlands Lakeshore Preserve at Fort Sheridan
• Zion: Illinois Beach State Park and Campground

Milwaukee District North

• Forest Glen and Edgebrook: LaBagh Woods and the North Branch Trail
• Morton Grove: Frank Bobrytzke Forest and the North Branch Trail
• Northbrook: Somme Preserves
• Libertyville-Prairie Crossing: Des Plaines River Trail, Old School Forest Preserve
• Round Lake: Hart's Wood Park
• Round Lake: Nippersink Forest Preserve
• Ingleside: Grant Woods Forest Preserve

Union Pacific Northwest

• Des Plaines: Des Plaines River Trail, Camp Ground Road Woods
• Barrington: Baker's Lake Nature Preserve
• Barrington: Citizen's Park and Cuba Marsh Forest Preserve
• Palatine: Deer Grove and Camp Reinberg
• Crystal Lake: Veteran's Acres and Sterne's Woods and Fen
• Woodstock: Emricson Park
• Woodstock: Ryder's Wood Park

Milwaukee District West to Elgin

• River Grove: Des Plaines River Trail, Schiller Woods
• Itasca: Springbrook Nature Center
• Itasca: Songbird Slough Forest Preserve
• Hanover Park: Mallard Lake and Hawk Hollow Forest Preserve
• National Street: Fox River Trail

Union Pacific West

• River Forest: Thatcher Woods
• Geneva: The Fox River Trail
• Elburn: Elburn Forest Preserve

BNSF Railway

• LaGrange Avenue: Salt Creek Woods, Possum Hollow Wood, and Bemis Woods

SouthWest Service and Heritage Corridor

• The Big Palos Adventure Camp-From Palos Heights and Palos Park-SouthWest Service to Willow Springs-Heritage Corridor

Rock Island District

• Major Taylor Trail
• Blue Island: Cal-Sag Trail
• Oak Forest: Midlothian Meadows and Oak Forest Heritage Preserve
• Oak Forest: Midlothian Reservoir, St. Mihiel Woods, East Yankee Woods, and the George W. Dunne National Golf Course
• Oak Forest: Camp Sullivan and the Area around Bachelor's Grove Woods
• Joliet: Joliet Ironworks Historic Site and the I&M Canal

South Shore Line

• Dune Park: Indiana Dunes State Park
• Miller, Portage-Ogden Dunes, and Beverly Shores: Indiana Dunes National Park and the Dunewood Campground

Suggested Itineraries
Acknowledgments

About the author

Lindsay Welbers is a journalist and sustainable transportation advocate. She runs the blog Third Coast Hikes at https://thirdcoasthikes.com.

Product details

• Authors: Lindsay Welbers
• Publisher: University Of Illinois Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 01.09.2025
• EAN: 9780252088919
• ISBN: 978-0-252-08891-9
• No. of pages: 216
• Subject: Travel > Sports and active travel