Q: Why do you remove garbage cans along the trails during winter months?
Year-round, we always make sure there are a good number of garbage cans in preserve parking lots, at trailheads, picnic shelters, and near toilets.
During the winter months, however, trail users will notice fewer garbage cans along the trails. We reduce them to minimize the number of maintenance vehicles that must drive over the trails in order to empty the cans. We want any snow on the trails to remain as pristine as possible to improve the experience of winter recreation activities like cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, and hiking.
It also is more hazardous for our staff to drive the vehicles over snow and ice covered trails. Driving our maintenance vehicles over the trails during periods of repeated freeze/thaw cycles can also damage the trail surface, often requiring significant trail repairs in spring.
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Q: What is the status of the Millennium Trail?
This planned 35-mile regional trail connects neighboring communities and forest preserves as it winds its way through western and northern Lake County. The trail will eventually link to the northern section of the Des Plaines River Trail in Wadsworth.
Today, more than 26.75 miles are complete and open for hiking, biking and cross-country skiing. The trail surface alternates from gravel to paved along various completed sections of the trail.
Horseback riding is permitted only along a 9.25-mile section of gravel trail from Lakewood north to the horse trailer parking area at Singing Hills Forest Preserve in Volo. From here, the trail surface changes from gravel to paved, and horses are not permitted on the paved section.
Open Trail Sections
Trail sections currently open include from the intersection of Hawley Street and Midlothian Road in Mundelein west and north through Lakewood and Singing Hills; north to Marl Flat Forest Preserve and from Litchfield Drive to Fairfield Road in Round Lake; along the Round Lake Bike Path; from Hook Drive east through Rollins Savanna Forest Preserve in Grayslake; and from Fourth Lake Forest Preserve in Lake Villa to McDonald Woods Forest Preserve in Lindenhurst.
Planned Trail Sections
Elsewhere, new trail sections and tunnels are being engineered and constructed, and lands are being purchased to complete the route for the trail.
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Q: Who manages the North Shore Path and McClory Trail?
The North Shore Path and the McClory Trail are managed by the Lake County Division of Transportation (LCDOT) and are open to hiking, biking and cross-country skiing.
You can use the McClory Trail/North Shore Path to connect to our Millennium Trail and Des Plaines River Trail systems.
The Millennium Trail links to the roughly 11-mile North Shore Path along the edge of Hawley Street at Route 176. From here, it winds east through the streets of Mundelein and follows an old railroad bed through Libertyville where it connects to our Des Plaines River Trail. It then continues east through Lake Bluff where it meets the 20-mile McClory Trail at Sheridan Road where it runs north/south through the county.
Find regional connections on LCDOT's bicycle map.
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