Saturday October 5, 2024 Hike Summary

For the 1st hike of the Fall 2024 hiking season, we met at the East Trigg trailhead, on Sat. Oct. 5th, 2024. Our leader for the day was Bill Gilmour. It was sunny And quite warm. We had 21 hikers, including 4-5 newbies. We “vehicle-pooled” North about a mile. and moved into the woods on the East side of the gravel road, into Jackson Hollow. We worked our way downward, into the valley, and for about 2 hours, essentially followed a bluff line on our “left”.  Several hikers crawled/climbed through passages. Some found some small windows and a group at the tail end observed a Copperhead snake about 18-20 inches long. Hikers also found several small turtles. 

  We took a lunch break at an overhang area that had a ring of stones for a campfire, then went across the valley, to the opposite side, for the afternoon portion of the hike, with the rock face again on our left. We did cross 1 small stream that was barely trickling. We hiked about 4 miles. 

Next weeks’ hike, Sat, Oct. 12th, will be led again by Bill Gimour, meeting at the parking lot at New Simpson HIll School, along Rt. 45, 10am. We will again ‘vehicle-pool’ to where we hit the trail. 

Until then, “See ya’ll on the trail. 

Saturday, October 12, 2024 Hike Announcement

The River to River Trail Society announces its 2nd public hike of the 2024 fall hiking season on Oct. 12th. Hiking: Max Creek (Johnson County). This hike is free and open to the public. This will be a loop hike approximately 5.5 miles in length. The leader of this hike can be reached at 270-331-1553 for more information. Hikers should meet at 10:00 am at New Simpson Hill School. This hike is intended for people in good health who have done some hiking. Hiking sticks and boots or sturdy shoes are recommended. Hikers should bring their own water and snacks. No dogs please. For a map to the meeting location at New Simpson Hill School click this blue link New Simpson Hill School  and a map will open up, and then click the Directions button and a driving map will be created which will allow you to plan your driving directions to the meeting area. Prior to participating in any hikes, the River to River Trail Society requests that all hikers read the 2023 Trail Society Waiver which can be found on the River to River website at the following link River to River Trail Society Information and then sign off on this waiver prior to the beginning of the hike. A copy of the waiver will be at the New Simpson Hill School meeting area for your signature.

River-to-River Trail Society Announces Fall, 2024 Hiking Schedule

The River-to River Trail Society announces its schedule of free guided hikes in and about the Shawnee National Forest for Fall, 2024. All hikes are open to the public free of charge. No reservations are required except where noted on schedule. These hikes are of at least moderate difficulty, and are intended for people in good health who have done some hiking. Boots or sturdy shoes and a walking stick are recommended for all hikes. Hikers should bring their own water and a snack. No dogs, please.

2024 Fall Hiking DatesDownload

The River-to-River Trail Society is an Illinois not-for-profit corporation founded in 1993 by John O’Dell to promote completion of the River-to-River Trail, which now runs 157 miles through the Shawnee National Forest between Elizabethtown on the Ohio River and Grand Tower on the Mississippi River. The Society engages in trail maintenance and advocacy, and it offers free guided hikes to members and the public
during the spring and fall hiking seasons. In addition, the Society has a Trail Guide to the entire River-to-River Trail, which can be downloaded for free from the Society’s website: http://www.rivertorivertrail.net/.

Saturday April 27, 2024 Hike Summary

On Saturday April 27th, 8 hikers met with Fred Scott at the Bell Smith Spring parking area. It was damp and cloudy, with a chance of some drizzles, which might have kept the numbers down for the hike. We had 1 new hiker and a dad & his 10 yr. old daughter. We then vehicle-pooled out to Gunnar lane.  I have driven  by the lane dozens of times, but had never ventured down the lane at all. Fred was taking us a different way into Bell Smith Springs. You just never can tell where you might go, and then end up.  We hiked just about 4 miles, depending on whose GPS system/phone was used. Fairly quickly we were walking down a sloped , rocky stream bed, then we could observe a sizeable stream down below us. We could hear water trickling over rocks. We ate lunch under the Great Arch of the Bell Smith springs, where we also took the group picture. Just as we got to the arch, a large family group was hiking through. We met up with several other pairs of hikers out for the day. Several were already wading the waters.  We hiked all along the main stream, then into the Hunting Branch area parking lot. We then climbed up along, working our way higher back to the parking area.

This next hike, meeting at the Goreville city park, is our last hike of the Spring 2024 hiking season. 

Until then, “See ya’ll On the Trail”. 

Saturday, May 4, 2024 Hike Announcement

The River to River Trail Society announces its 10th public hike of the 2024 spring hiking season on May 4th. Hiking: To Bork’s Falls (Johnson County). This hike is free and open to the public. This will be a moderate hike, 4 miles in length, 3 hours hiking time. The leader of this hike can be reached at 618-599-0686 for more information. Hikers should meet at 10:00 am at Goreville Village Park. This hike is intended for people in good health who have done some hiking. Hiking sticks and boots or sturdy shoes are recommended. Hikers should bring their own water and snacks. No dogs please. There are five wide stream crossings which will require hikers to walk rocks in order to cross. If it rains prior to this hike, hiker’s boots/shoes may become wet when crossing the streams. Hiking sticks are highly recommended. There is an area of slick rock. Hikers will also be required to shuttle for this hike. For a map to the meeting location at Goreville Village Park click this blue link Goreville Village Park and a map will open up, and then click the Directions button and a driving map will be created which will allow you to plan your driving directions to the meeting area. Prior to participating in any hikes, the River to River Trail Society requests that all hikers read the 2023 Trail Society Waiver which can be found on the River to River website at the following link River to River Trail Society Information and then sign off on this waiver prior to the beginning of the hike. A copy of the waiver will be at the Goreville Village Park meeting area for your signature.

Saturday April 20, 2024 Hike Summary

16 Hikers met leader Bil Gilmour at the east end of Illinois Rt. 147. It was sunny and a bit windy. We then vehicle-pooled North on Cedar Grove church rd, a few miles and turned West on a lane into the forest We had 3 new hikers, 1 from West Frankfort and a mother-daughter pair from the Cobden-Makanda area. There were lots of people using the area today…plenty of equestrians, and then the River to River Relay race was also today. Much of our hike was on Trail 032, but, the last mile or so was on the River to River Trail. We ate lunch, and took the group picture at a nice little water fall…no name for it…that had a small amount of flow to it today. It had about a 10-12 ft. drop into a nice pool.  No one chose to go swimming though. It was another Great day to be hiking. A couple of gents even did some “trail marker maintenance ” by using their big Sharpie pens to re-mark some Trail 032 signs that were fading out. Next weeks’ hike will be led by Fred Scott at Bell Smith Springs. We will meet in the main parking area. 

Until then, “See ya’ll On the Trail”. 

Saturday, April 27, 2024 Hike Announcement

The River to River Trail Society announces its 9th public hike of the 2024 spring hiking season on Apr. 27th. Hiking: Bell Smith Springs (Pope County). This hike is free and open to the public. This will be a moderate thru hike, 5 miles in length, 4 hours hiking time. The leader of this hike can be reached at 618-841-4838 for more information. Hikers should meet at 10:00 am at Bell Smith Springs. This hike is intended for people in good health who have done some hiking. Hiking sticks and boots or sturdy shoes are recommended. Hikers should bring their own water and snacks. No dogs please. There are four stream crossings which requires hikers to walk rocks in order to cross. If it rains prior to this hike, hiker’s boots/shoes may become wet when crossing the streams. Hikers will also be required to shuttle for this hike. For a map to the meeting location at Bell Smith Springs click this blue link Bell Smith Springs and a map will open up, and then click the Directions button and a driving map will be created which will allow you to plan your driving directions to the meeting area. Prior to participating in any hikes, the River to River Trail Society requests that all hikers read the 2023 Trail Society Waiver which can be found on the River to River website at the following link River to River Trail Society Information and then sign off on this waiver prior to the beginning of the hike. A copy of the waiver will be at the Bell Smith Springs meeting area for your signature.

Saturday April 13, 2024 Hike Summary

On a warm, sunny Saturday morning, 21 hikers gathered at the swimming pool parking lot of Dixon Springs State park. Shawn Gossman was our leader for the hike. We crossed the small wooden bridge and then under the highway bridge and followed the stream and rocks of Ghost Dance Canyon. There had been enough rain earlier in the week to create a nice amount of stream flow and small waterfalls among the various boulders. We did not hike all the way to the end of the boulders. Shawn led us up and out of the canyon to an area that most of us had never explored. Some old remains of buildings and foundations of the old resort-style area. It was ‘hidden’ in brush and undergrowth. Some of the foundation was quite large. One “structure must have been a fountain of sorts. We then made our way back to the trail, where we took the group picture with a backdrop against some rocks of the canyon. We hiked about 2 miles, and were back to the parking area about 12 pm but, it was into an area most had never explored.. 

Next weeks’ hike will be led by Bill Gilmour, meeting at the area on the East end of IL. Rt. 147, at 10 am, Sat. April 20th. We will be vehicle-pooling from the parking area. 

Until then, “See ya’ll On the Trail, 

Saturday, April 20, 2024 Hike Announcement

The River to River Trail Society announces its 8th public hike of the 2024 spring hiking season on Apr. 20th. Hiking: Trail 32 (Johnson County). This hike is free and open to the public. This will be a hike, 6 miles in length, 4 hours hiking time. The leader of this hike can be reached at 270-331-1553 for more information. Hikers should meet at 10:00 am at the intersection of Hwy 147 and Cedar Grove Road. This hike is intended for people in good health who have done some hiking. Hiking sticks and boots or sturdy shoes are recommended. Hikers should bring their own water and snacks. No dogs please. There will be some small stream crossings. If it rains prior to this hike, hiker’s boots/shoes may become wet when crossing the streams. Hikers will also need to shuttle for this hike. For a map to the meeting location at the intersection of Hwy 147 and Cedar Grove Road click this blue link Intersection of Hwy 147 & Cedar Grove Road and a map will open up, and then click the Directions button and a driving map will be created which will allow you to plan your driving directions to the meeting area. Prior to participating in any hikes, the River to River Trail Society requests that all hikers read the 2023 Trail Society Waiver which can be found on the River to River website at the following link River to River Trail Society Information and then sign off on this waiver prior to the beginning of the hike. A copy of the waiver will be at the intersection of Hwy 147 and Cedar Grove Road meeting area for your signature.

Saturday April 6, 2024 Hike Summary

On Saturday, April 6th, 16 hikers gathered at the East Trigg Trailhead, to be led by Sam Morales. We had several new hikers, including 3 from South Bend, Indiana.  There was also a large group, mainly from the Chicago area, that went out ahead of us, to do some rappelling/ bluff climbing. 

We set out by walking North along the road for a couple hundred yards, then headed East into the woods along an old roadway, then next turned North into the woods again, along a trail. We kept seeing some small gade areas, with a small, but flowing stream.  At 1 point, we started “bushwacking” then Sam got us to the top of Splatterstone falls. We then worked our way around, descended down into the valley/canyon area, worked our way back to the bottom of Splatterstone falls, where we took the group picture.  We hiked our way out of the valley/canyon, along the base of bluffs, then emerged along the West side of the railroad tracks. hiking our way South. We were close to the tracks for quite a while, but no train ever came along, slightly disappointing a few. At 1 point, we were close enough to the rapelling area in Jackson Falls that we could hear a Lot of people just talking. We knew there were a Lot of people out enjoying the day, and visiting the area. We did meet with an equestrian group. and did find the rapelling group from the Chicago area that left the parking lot before us. We ended up by walking out (west) on the lane that leads to the Tin Whistle on the railroad tracks. Weather for the day was just about Perfect!!

We have 4 more hikes for the Spring 2024 season. Next weeks’ hike, at Dixon Springs State Park, will be led by Shawn Gossman. No need to register, just be there by 10 am. It will be a shorter hike of about 2 miles. Shawn has hiked this area many times, and knows it well. 

Until then, “See ya’ll On the Trail”