Blackwell FP eTrike Trip - 08/14/25

Blackwell Forest Preserve
West Branch DuPage River Trail
Warrenville, Illinois
August 14, 2025

Introduction
Today is a perfect day for a bike ride. The temperature is in the mid 80s, with a dew point in the low 60s. When the dew point is in the low 60s or less, we know it will feel much more comfortable being outdoors.

We’ll explore the West Branch DuPage River Trail on our electric trikes today. This trail originates at the Blackwell Forest Preserve in Warrenville, Illinois, just north of Butterfield road. The trail is 4 miles in length and terminates at Gary’s Mill road in West Chicago. So our round trip will be a total of 8 miles.

Our journey on this trail will take us through oak and hickory woodlands, prairies, grasslands and wetlands. This forest preserve attracts a variety of native wildlife, including wild turkeys, deer, bald eagles, great blue herons, coyotes, red foxes, and muskrats.

So it’s time to unload our electric trikes and start exploring!

DuPage River Tributary
This year, work crews have been busy with restoration efforts on this tributary of the Dupage River.

Mack Road Concerns
Crossing Mack road can be challenging. Even with the flashing yellow warning lights, most drivers fail to yield to pedestrians attempting to cross the road.

McKee Marsh
This portion of the trail makes a loop around McKee Marsh. This wetland features two vernal ponds where amphibians thrive and are in abundance. Bird species such as the wood duck, blue-winged teal, and solitary sandpiper forage in the area. A 13,000-year-old skeleton of a wooly mammoth was discovered here in 1977.

Lunch
We stopped for a picnic lunch at the Currier Elementary School at Gary’s Mill road. This is the end point for this portion of the trail. The school is closed today, but opens for the first day of school tomorrow.

We ate our lunch seated at the “little peoples” picnic table and were thrilled to see they had a “Buddy Bench.”

End
Well that concludes our adventure for today. We had a wonderful time exploring this beautiful trail and look forward to our next trip on our electric trikes. Thanks for watching!

Lectric eTrikes - Goodyear, AZ

Fox River Trail eTrike Trip - 08/06/25

Description
Fox River Trail on eTrikes – Geneva, Illinois – August 6, 2025


Introduction
We explore the scenic Fox River Trail on our electric trikes we purchased in June 2025. For senior citizens, like us, who have balance issues riding two-wheel bicycles, this is the perfect mode of transportation for us. Once again, we are able to ride the bicycle trails we use to ride when we had our two-wheel bicycles.

The Fox River Trail is a multi-use trail in Northern Illinois that is over 40 miles long. The trail accommodates bikes, hikers, runners and walkers. It runs adjacent to the Fox River, passing through nature preserves and towns. The trail runs through several communities from Algonquin to the north to Oswego to the south.

On this trip we will explore the trail from Geneva traveling south to Fabyan Forest Preserve (located north of Batavia), a round trip of about 4 miles.

It’s a pleasant day with the temperature in the low 80s. The Dew Point is at 65 which makes it comfortable being outside and a perfect day for a bike ride on our electric trikes.

We parked at Bennet Park, which is located on the west side of Illinois 25 just a few blocks north of Illinois route 38.

Restroom Stop
As we depart the parking lot I stop a young man walking his dog to inquire about restrooms on the trail. Restroom locations are a top priority for us seniors with limited bladder control! He told me there was one at Island Park which is located on the south side of Illinois 38.

Underpass
We travel through the underpass under Illinois 38 and enter Island Park.

Island Park Stop
We stop at the picnic area in Island Park to check out the restrooms. The restrooms were closed for remodeling. A porta potty is installed there until the work on the restrooms is completed.

Bridges
Along the trail there are pedestrian bridges over the Fox River.

Trail Split
We arrive at a point where the trail splits. One trail runs parallel to the river and the other trail runs parallel to Illinois 25. Eventually the two trails merge back into one. We opt to take the trail that runs parallel to the river.

Picnic Stop
We arrive at the Fabyan Forest Preserve where we’ll have our picnic lunch. This forest preserve spans both sides of the Fox river. There is a parking lot at this location with a pit toilet.

On the east side of the river there is a historic windmill. On the west side of the river there is a picnic area with a historic lighthouse. We opted for a picnic lunch by the lighthouse.

Bridge Crossing
We cross the pedestrian bridge to the west side of the Fox river where the lighthouse is located and we’ll have our picnic lunch here.

Selfies
Time to take some selfies of us sitting on a park bench with our cooler between us, just enjoying each other, and thankful we are both in good health and able to go on these adventures.

Picnic Lunch
This location turned out to be a good choice for lunch. Wonderful scenic views in all directions.

Return Trip
We really enjoyed our picnic lunch at the Fabyan Forest Preserve. Now it’s time to head back to Geneva, load up the trikes and head for home. On the return trip I’ve turned the camera around to get a different perspective of the trail ride.

End
We hope you enjoyed our tour of the Fox River Trail in Geneva. Thanks for watching!

Lectric eTrike - Goodyear, AZ