North Branch Trail

A fawn investigates some leaves a few feet away from the path.

The North Branch Trail is a Class I bicycle trail located in northwestern Cook County, Illinois. The trail starts at the corner of Caldwell and Devon Avenues in Chicago, and from there it continues north approximately 17 miles (27 km) to Glencoe. The trail follows a path along the North Branch of the Chicago River and the Skokie Lagoons.

Along the path, riders will find themselves passing through city streets and into quiet forests where the sounds of the city quickly fade away. Because the area is located within a forest preserve, many generations of wildlife have lived and died with limited but safe contact with humans. As a result, it is not uncommon to find animals such as deer who have no fear of humans and may even stop and examine you as much as you examine them. The trail adjoins an equestrian facility at Golf and Harms Rds.

Parking and access to the trail is available in many locations, including Harms Woods in Skokie and the Tower Road boat launch.

The trail splits at Tower Road, looping around the Skokie Lagoons. This offers an excellent tour of this locally famous conservation effort performed during the depths of the depression. A commemorative plaque can be found honoring the Civilian Conservation Corps work, just east of the Edens Expressway and north of Willow Rd.

Ending at Dundee Road, riders can proceed northward to the Chicago Botanic Garden via the south service entrance. Traversing the Gardens and exiting the north entrance allows a brief portage east on Lake-Cook Rd to the Green Bay Trail. Portaging west will connect to the southern end of the Skokie Valley Bike Path.

History

The trail started after World War II as several disconnected and unpaved equestrian trails, most of which still exist. The area was also traversed by old roadways, and footpaths laid down by hikers over the years.

Starting in the 1970s, the Cook County Forest Preserve District began converting this to a dedicated paved trail. A major construction push in 1976 resulted in a complete trail from Devon Ave to Winnetka Ave, and the completion of the Lake St overpass for $505,000.

The abandoning of the Skokie Lagoons (Nike) missile base (constructed during the cold war) allowed the trail to be extended to Dundee Road. The stretch of trail north of Tower Rd follows the original service road to the launch complex.

A portage along Winnetka Rd to cross over the Edens Expressway was eliminated in the early 1980's when major resurfacing of the expressway presented an opportunity to install a short tunnel under the highway, eliminating the need for a proposed million dollar bridge.

The present paved trail was largely completed in the 1980s with a continuous paved surface, and overpasses at Oakton Street and Lake Ave. The entire length of the paved trail was torn up and repaved in 2007, correcting many poor sections and offering a smooth and groomed pathway.

Much work was done on the equestrian trails as well. Although some equestrian trails were overlaid by the bicycle trail, many still exist, paralleling the paved route. A complete gravel trail runs from the equestrian facility at Golf road to the Willow Rd dam site, with a separate underpass at the Edens Expressway.