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| Forest Glen Preserve Westville, Ill. Rating:
(four campfires out of five) Date: November 2002, November 2006 Description: We backpacked into East Camp. There are three campsites perched atop a wooded ridge above the Vermilion River. Recreation: The River Ridge Backpacking Trail is a rugged, 11-mile loop traversing woodlands and prairies. There are several smaller loops that intersect with the backpacking trail. This is a nice birding spot, and we saw many winter residents (white-breasted nuthatches, brown creepers, ruby-crowned kinglets and black-capped chickadees) and heard a barred owl and coyotes at night. A seven-story tower affords a nice view of the Vermilion River Valley. Privacy: The sites are distant from each other. We had the campground to ourselves. Alcohol: prohibited? Firewood: There were plenty of downed branches in the campground. Reservations: Yes. The Vermilion County Conservation District requires pre-registration for backpacking. Rants: I later attempted to hike the backpacking trail as a day-hike in August 2004. There must have been a severe storm recently as dozens of trees blocked the trail in places. It seemed as though it had not been trod in months. There also were an annoying number of spiderwebs across the trail, and we were walking through them constantly. We survived but bugged out somewhere around seven miles, and I ran back to get the car. Vermilion County Conservation District Camp
Chicago
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