Three hours from St. Louis, two and a half from Chicago, one and a half from Indianapolis, and less than an hour from U of I in Urbana-Champaign, Forest Glen Preserve is close enough to be a great day hike and/or picnic destination, but challenging and remote enough to be an excellent one or two-night backpacking destination. Mix and match trails to make your hike as easy or difficult as you’d like, but following the River Ridge Backpack Trail as mapped may be physically challenging for unconditioned folks to accomplish on a one night trip. A .pdf of the trail map is available here or can be found at the trailhead.

Choosing a backpacking destination between Chicago and Indianapolis is pretty easy – there are two. And one of the two doesn’t permit camping between October 31st and April 1st*, so choosing a backpacking destination between Chicago and Indianapolis in December is even easier. Continue reading Backpacking Forest Glen Preserve – River Ridge Backpack Trail →