Backpacking w/in 150 miles of Chicago?

[James Davis]

I am organizing a crew to do the Manistee Quest trip, a five-day four-night backpacking trip through a portion of the Manistee National Forest in western Michigan — it's a program organized through Camp Owassipe, the Chicago Area Council's scout camp. I am using the Backpacking merit badge requirements to structure the preparation for the quest.

The BP merit badge calls for three 15-mile, 3-day, 2-campsite trips (in addition to the 30 miler, which the Quest trip will satisfy). Does anyone have any suggestions for places to go within a reasonable distance from Chicago? Say, 150 miles?

I'm already scheduled to do something in the Kettle Moraine State Park, on the Ice Age Trail, which is in southern Wisconsin, about 100 miles away.

I would like to find something else good for backpacking that would satisfy the merit badge requirement for the shorter hikes.

Any ideas will be much appreciated.

jd

[Stephen Barber]

But as I recall there is a national forest or two in southern Illinois. Might be some trail down there?

(I was going to suggest Kettle Moraine, but you've already got that!)

[James Davis]

Thanks – yes that's a good suggestion — I know of the River-to-River trail through the Shawnee National Forest, south of Carbondale. It's a bit far from Chicago — about a six hour drive. Something closer would be better.

jd

[Michael Ray]

For that distance you'll be pretty much limited to state and national forest land. I'd guess Deam Wilderness just SE of Bloomington, IN, would be 5 hours. My map may be of some use in looking up various areas. I know the 4 south of Chicago near I-74 wouldn't be suitable. Sand Ridge SF is the next closest it appears.

[James Davis]

Thanks much!

jd

[Jennifer Mitol]

I have pretty much done just about every 15+ mile trail near Chicago in my 20ish years of backpacking…and frankly there's just not that much that close. The Manistee River Trail and NCT loop is great, but that's about 250 miles away. Charles Deam in southern indiana has a lot of great trails but again, about 200 or so away. You can do an easy 10-mile loop in Morgan Monroe state forest (near Martinsville) called the low gap trail, and that actually meets up with the longer Tecumseh trail…also a nice option.

Obviously you have the kettle moraine parks near Milwaukee, yellow river in IA, and the Jordan River Pathway in N Michigan (I've actually seen many scout troops there…) but you are still looking at 5-6 hour drives for everything. Shawnee in southern IL is closer to 8-9 hours, and for that distance you can get to Red River Gorge, KY or the Porkies in the UP.

Trust me, I soooo wish we had better trails closer…and one of these days the sierras will call my name a little too loudly and away ill go…..

[James Davis]

These are great suggestions (if not exactly what I wanted to hear). Thanks much for the reply.

jd

[Cory Whitesell]

Shades SP near Crawfordsville, IN would work. They have a backpacking campground and a scout campground both- so you could turn it into 2 nights. If you do the loop in neighboring nature preserve (nice) and the connector trail – you could easily get 15 miles. It is 169 miles from downtown Chicago. Lots of scouts use this park.

[James Davis]

Hey that's a great idea. I'll check the Crawfordsville option out.

[Michael Ray]

That was one of the 4 I thought would be unsuitable for 2 reasons. If you did EVERY trail in the park, which now includes the Pine Hills Nature Preserve, you'd barely get 15 miles and there would be a fair bit of overlap as most trails are neighboring loops. The second is there's only one backpack camp (with 7 sites for 2 tents each). Your second camp would need to be in the group campground. Not to say you can't do that, just not as nice a BP experience for the boys (though that depends largely on their mindset).

The BP camp is a good place to intro people because there's potable water and pit toilet (same with group camp) and it's just 2.5 miles out and the same back. Took my wife there for our 17th ann (we were married at Shades). You can see the video of that trip if you check my profile.

Highly recommend you visit Shades at some point, especially trails 1, 4, 5 & 8 and the Preserve (10 gets you there) – just don't know how well it will meet your need. Since it's over 3 days, it should work. The BP camp gives you 5 miles, trail 10 and Preserve trail give you another 5 miles so that leaves you to do a combination of the others to make 5 more miles.

[James Brady]

I can't believe anyone hasn't posted this yet. Check out Starved Rock State Park.

It's not huge (there are only about 13 miles of marked trails), but you get what IMO is some of the most varied and scenic terrain in Northern Illinois. Canyons, waterfalls, and fantastic views of the Illinois river make it seem a lot further away than it is.

My troop did training hikes there for nearly every backpacking trip we went on.

Best of all, according to Google maps, its just under two hours from the city.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=chicago+to+starved+rock+state+park&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&sa=N&tab=wl

[Charles Hutchins]

Just for those still interested. Next week our Troop is hiking on the Des Plaines Trail. We have options to camp at Van Patten Woods or at Camp Oakarro, owned by the BSA (NEIC), around a mile away from the trail. You can start hiking anywhere along the trail and camp at either place.

[James Davis]

That's a great idea! We;ve done a couple of camporees at Oakarro, and really liked it. I never thought of the Des Plaines River Trail. I will check it out. Thanks!

jd

[Dan Yeruski]

Get out this fall and hike the Illinois and Michigan Canal

http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/landmgt/parks/i&m/main.htm

Camping

Backpack carry-in is allowed at designated sites along the trail. Tent and youth group camping also is available at Channahon and Gebhard Woods. Open fires are permitted in campstoves and fire pits provided at the sites. Permits must be obtained from the park offices prior to camping.

[Nick Gatel]

I put together a nice hike out near Naperville a couple months ago. Had to walk through suburban areas to go from preserve to preserve. I suspect camping isn't allowed, but I didn't ask. When stealthing through cities I put on my Cuben poncho when some official looking person engages me. The poncho kinda looks like a trash bag, so they avoid me. Probably not recommended for Boy Scouts.

;)

[Author]

Posts