Des Plaines River, Burr Ridge to Romeoville

Trip Overview

What a nice day! Hot and tons of sunshine. Borrowing from someone else's trip report, we tried something totally new to us. We put in at Knkollwood launch in Burr Ridge, which is definitely a hidden gem that can only be found by those that are truly looking for it.

We ran a shuttle and left a vehicle at Isle a la Cache in Romeoville.

It never ceases to amaze me how far away you can feel on a canoe in the middle of a major metro area. The river runs parallel to a shipping canal and a multi use non-motorized trail (the Centennial Trail), so we heard other folks walking, running or biking, but don't think we saw anyone our entire trip. We passed underneath I-355 as well.

The river was WIDE, and it didn't have much character in terms of bends, turns, or twists and at one point it seemed like a 3 mile straightaway. But, there were several small inlets on both sides of the river which we explored every chance we had to get some shade.

The paddling was very easy, and the depth was good. We did not scrape once, and there were zero rapids or even ripples of any sort. We stopped a few times for a snack and beverage and saw multiple signs of wildlife including an up close encounter with some snakes sunning themselves on some logs.

The total miles was almost exactly 9 miles.

We put in about 1:15, and took out about 5:30 (I'm guessing at the take out time, but it's close).