Trail scouting 5-19-12

Illinois Prairie Path Looking south as the path crosses E. Tryon Grove Road near the intersection of US 12 and IL 31 in Richmond, IL.

Looking north as the path crosses E. Tryon Grove Road near the intersection of US 12 and IL 31 in Richmond, IL.

Looking north as the path crosses E. Tryon Grove Road near the intersection of US 12 and IL 31 in Richmond, IL.

Long Prairie Trail.
Eastern terminus trail head at County Line Road. I guess this is some kind of historical note.

Looking west from the trail head.

Sign at the entrance.

I think there are 8 parking spots, a trash can, and a pit toilet. No water.

Across County Line Road to the east, it appears the rail road is still active. At least they use it for parking rail cars as you can see by looking closely thru the brush.

Poplar Grove. This is the trail head where it crosses Poplar Grove Road near Main St. It is easy to drive right past because it is not signed. In fact I drove right past it and had to come back. This is looking east. On street parking.

Looking west.

Looking west. Note trash can, picnic tables, and some pop machines along the trail here.

To the north side of the trail on the west side of the road is this store called Trail Stop. No idea what it is. Appears to cater to trail users though. Has a pop machine and a wall mural beckoning trail users. We drove by a little after 7 pm on a Saturday and it appeared to be closed. There is a Mexican grocery store across the street that was open though.

ETA 5-20-12: A web search turned up some additional information that this store may be a diner and ice cream store.

Poplar Grove - looking east at Fairgrounds Road.

Poplar Grove - looking west at Fairgrounds Road.