Chicago Avenue to Plank Road Meadow

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Skill level: Beginner

Length: 6.3 miles

Directions: Enter the Trailside Nature Center parking lot on the south side of Chicago Ave. between Thatcher Ave. and the Des Plaines River in River Forest.  Follow the path at the west end of the parking lot to the put-in.

The take-out is on the Des Plaines River on river right just past the confluence of Salt Creek.
Enter the Plank Road Meadow Boat Launch on the north side of Ogden (Rt. 34) just east of 1st Avenue in Lyons.

Notes: The river in the middle section of this trip passes through several cemeteries.  Look for the beautiful crypts & sculpture overlooking the river in the Forest Home Cemetery on river left downstream of the Eisenhower Expressway.

Do not continue paddling past the Plank Road Meadow Boat Ramp!  Approximately ½ mile downstream is the 12 foot high Hofmann Dam.  There is no legal take-out on the Riverside bank and no possible take-out on the Lyons bank, so take out at Plank Road Meadow!