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| Hiking trail along Pike River, Petrified Springs Park, Kenosha County. |
Illinois
Boone CountyNative prairie, small towns, an apple orchard, and a woodland with beautiful fall colors awaits hikers on the Long Prairie Trail. The paved rail to trail route runs 14.6 miles from northwest of Caledonia through Poplar Grove to northeast of Capron. A great segment is Caledonia to Beaver Creek just past Poplar Grove, as it largely stays away from the highway. Park in Caledonia in a trailhead lot at the corner of Main and Front streets for a 10-mile round trip. Trees buffer both sides of the trail almost the entire way.
Jo Daviess County
An impressive array of fall colors await at Apple River Canyon State Park. The 2-mile round trip River Route Nature Trail parallels the Apple River in one of the few Illinois counties that is part of the driftless area. Giant old sugar maples with amber, orange and scarlet leaves grace the picnic area at the trailhead. On the trail, musclewood resembles a small beech tree, but its dense orange-red canopy delivers far more spectacular colors. From Galena, take U.S. Hwy. 20 east. Turn left/north on North Canyon Park Road. Once in the park, leave your vehicle at the lot on the road’s west side before crossing Apple River.
Lake County
Hikers can ramble through an oak woods at the Van Patten Woods Forest Preserve. The 1.7-mile Yellow Trail – located on higher ground just east of the Des Plaines River’s – is a great way to enjoy fall colors, as the oak leaves change in late autumn to tan and brown with a few even orange and scarlet. Acorns abound. From the Wisconsin-Illinois border, take Interstate 94 south. Exit south onto U.S. Hwy. 41. Turn left/east onto Ill. Hwy. 173 then enter the preserve by going left/north. Make a right/east onto Forest Preserve Road. Park in the third lot you come to; it will be on the right/south. A connector trail links the park to the Yellow Trail.
Wisconsin
Grant CountyDay hikers can explore an oak savanna that’s nearly 300 feet above the Wisconsin River at the Boscobel Bluffs State Natural Area. In autumn, the bluffside lights up in an array of colors. The 3-mile round trip trail climbs 400 feet on an old logging road along the Lower Wisconsin River valley’s south flank. After passing through a globally rare dry prairie, the trail reaches a savanna offering the yellow to brown leaves of bur oak, the rich gold of shagbark hickory, and the maroon of American hazelnut. From U.S. Hwy. 61/Elm Street in Boscobel, turn east onto Mary Street, which becomes Freemont Street and then County Road MS. Just past Oakes Street, a parking lot is on the left/north.
Green County
A variety of fall colors – including the golds of shagbark hickories, rich yellows of birch, and the bronze of dried prairie grass – await hikers on the Havenridge Nature Trail in New Glarus Woods State Park. The 4.2-mile trail heads through each of the park’s landscapes. Some of the trees here are enormous, as the hilly New Glarus Woods escaped the logger’s ax in the 1800s. Basswood, black walnut, elm and oak also can be found in the park. From New Glarus, head south on Wis. Hwy. 69. enter the park by turning right/west on County Road NN. Park in the first lot on the road’s left/south side.
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Tree leaves along the scenic Sugar River turn gold each autumn, making for a wonderful walk. The 2.5-mile round trip Sugar River Trail West runs on an old jeep trail that hugs the Sugar River between Brodhead and the Decatur Lake dam. Closer to a floodplain forest, this side of the river offers more trees than the Sugar River Trail that travels through farmland east of the waterway. From the junction of Wis. Hwy. 11 and County Road E in Brodhead, go north on the former. Turn left/west on Decatur Road. The parking lot and trailhead is at the Sugar River’s west side.Kenosha County
Among the best places to see fall colors are streams, where the leaves reflect beautifully against the blue water or brighten a gray sky. Such is the case at Petrifying Springs Park, where an unnamed trail traverses 2 miles (round trip) through a woods and alongside Pike River in the park’s southwest corner. Be sure to take the side trails with footbridges crossing the river, where you can enjoy orange and yellow leaves on trees and shrubs, some of them falling into the water and slowly gliding downstream. In Kenosha, from Wis. Hwy. 31 exit east onto Berryville Road/7th Street. Take the second right/south. Drive 0.17 miles to the second parking lot. Pick up the hiking trail from the paved sidewalk on the lot’s west side, going southwest into the woods.
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Hikers can experience the richly colored orange-red leaves of the hawthorn tree that grows along Pike Creek near Kenosha. The 0.4-mile looping Hawthorn Trail runs in the Hawthorn Hollow Nature Sanctuary and Arboretum. Hawthorns grow from 16 to 49 feet tall, and when more shrub than tree-like, their leaves branch out all around the trunk from the ground to its top. A bonus in autumn: The woods is a major stopover for migrating songbirds. From Kenosha, head north on Wis. Hwy. 31. After crossing Somers Road, turn left/west into the nature sanctuary. Park at the nature center; the trail begins west of it.Lafayette County
Ridgetop views, an oak woods, and prairie grasses await hikers on the Windy Ridge Trail at Yellowstone State Park. The 1.7-mile trail passes through an oak grove, where leaves shine tan, red and brown overhead and oodles of acorns crunch underfoot. From Darlington, take County Road F northeast. Turn right/southeast onto N. Lake Road. Go left/northeast on the road leading tot he campground and park int the lot past the turnoff to the campground. Walk the road south back toward the turnoff; the trailhead is on the road’s left side.
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