Hiking Trails

If you prefer to log your miles by foot, any of our recommended biking trails will delight hikers too. Or visit the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor, a ninety-seven-mile stretch of unique cultural history and recreational opportunities. Spanning rural and wooded landscapes that link towns laid out by the original canal commission, the corridor—established in 1984 with Openlands’ guidance—was the first federal land designation of its kind. (Today, there are over forty national heritage areas throughout the country.) See how Chicago transformed from a small settlement into a critical national transportation hub, as well as areas of unspoiled beauty that evoke a bygone era.

Located just forty miles southwest of Chicago, the 19,000-acre Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie is the largest piece of protected open space in northeastern Illinois and the first federally protected tallgrass prairie in the United States. Midewin (the Potawatomi word for healing) emerged from parts of the former Joliet Arsenal with Openlands’ help and remains one our favorite destinations in the region. Here you will experience miles of shared-use trails, rustic picnic areas, and vast expanses of returning grasses, flowers, and sedges that play host to an array of grassland birds, white-tailed deer, and coyote.

Find more hikes in northeastern Illinois and the surrounding region at Trails.com.