Welcome the the Lemont Outdoors !
From paddling to cycling to hiking the Lemont area has everything you need for outdoor adventure. Uniquely situated in the Des Plaines River Valley, Lemont has topography like no other community in Chicagoland. Some of the area offers multi-use trails that are flat along the I&M Canal, lending itself well to casual walks and bike rides. Other areas have great hill climbs that will challenge your stamina and endurance. Lemont is also home to the Quarryman Challenge, a 10 mile and 5k running race that winds through town. It’s a great route run, cycle or walk. Get out and get local !
Joliet Iron Works Hike
The Joliet Iron and Steel Works has been on my list for a while. I’ve always heard that it’s an interesting site / hike with some “ruins” to explore. Conveniently it’s along the I+M Bike Path, so we could actually ride there from Lemont, depending on your cycling ability. For our visit we drove to the […]
Wandering Through Lyman Woods in Downers Grove
Lyman Woods may not be a large preserve, but i think it makes up for it’s size with its interesting wetlands and a unique nature center. The Nature Center The building is a great STEAM topic in itself with it’s sod roof that helps to recycle rain water with multiple rain barrels. The “William F. Sherman, […]
Bison, Bunkers and Boots — Exploring Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
I’ve been wanting to visit Midewin for wayyyyyy too long… If you haven’t heard of Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, southwest of Joliet along Route 53. Coincidently you’ll be using the old Route 66 highway to visit the area. The first thing you’ll notice is there is a lot of ground to cover, 18,000 acres actually. That said, […]
Tour de Farms 2016 MS150 Bike Ride
I tackled my 4th Tour de Farms this weekend ! It was a great ride ( Saturday only for me ) this year! We were challenged with a 100 degree heat index and an invigorating strong wind out of the south. None of that mattered when you stop and think of the challenges someone faces […]
Rolling into June and connecting the dots; Veterans Memorial Trail to I+M Trail to the Centennial Trail
Seventh ride of the summer and starting to feel pretty good. Since I mostly ride solo, okay, all the time, I rely on Strava and my rides stats to push myself harder for my Tour de Farms with Team Zym. Not a whole lot of wildlife but more cycling traffic might answer that — with […]
Riding with Nature on the Veteran’s Memorial and Centennial Bike Paths
Sometimes It’s Better to Ride on a Cloudy Day Today it was chilly and grey, but it’s my scheduled ride night and I really needed to get some miles in to prepare for my Tour de Farms MS150 ride. I’m so behind in my training, that I don’t really care what the weather is like. […]
CalSag Trail with New Alsip Pavement Connector
—— q u i c k n e w s p o s t —— Great news ! The CalSag is now a paved bike path to from Lemont to 127th Street in Alsip. That makes it an approximately 11 miles of path in one direction with minimal car interaction. Previously the section […]
New Years Day 2016 Hike – Oldfield Oaks
Get out more in 2016, that’s our goal for the new year. Some say we get a lot, it’s not enough for me. 🙂 We’re starting off with just a simple, quick hikes. One of our favorite places right now is a little north of Lemont off of Lemont Road in Darien. The preserve is […]
Snowy Hike at Waterfall Glen
Finally, more snow !! Even though it was just a few inches, it was more than enough for us to get out for a quick break. We parked at the top of Bluff Road and started wandering east. This time we found a ravine and started heading south through it. It turned out to be […]
The Centennial 30 – Late Summer on the Path
If you live in Lemont, you just can’t beat the convenience of the Centennial Path / Veterans Memorial Trail. I like to park at 135th Street where the old Swing Bridge is located. From there you can usually pick up a tail wind in the Fall, at least on the way out. Today there were […]
Super Duper Test