Des Plaines River in Illinois

Trip Overview

The start of fall is a great time to be on the river. The leaves had not started to fall but there was a lot of color today. We had done the Des Plaines at other locations but Sol had spotted the "Canoe Put-in" sign along Route 60 so we tried it out. Nice put in with good parking area with close acess to the water. The river was low but pleanty of water to paddle and we headed up river but only got about half a mile when we found a dam blocked our way. The banks were just steep mud so we did 180 and headed south. About a mile downriver from the put in is another dam and again a steep muddy bank. We just called it quits and paddled back to our take out. I like the river, its wide flat and even though it has a lot of deadfall, it's a nice paddle but it's just too short a space between dams. Couldn't the Forest Preserve District found a better place for a put in?

Accommodations:

No accomodations but you're only blocks away from several very large shopping malls.

Directions:

The put in is on route 60 (Townline Road) about 1/4 mile east of Milwaukee Ave. (Route 21) on the south side of the road.