Biking the Tunnel Hill State Trail in Illinois

• Date Biked:  May 16 & 17, 2022
• Posted Mileage: 45
• Total miles Tracked: 51, over three sessions
• Type of Trail: Rail trail, crushed gravel
• Conveniences:  Picnic tables, restrooms
• Best Features:  A nice mix of scenic terrain
• Worst Features:  Watch out for the mosquitos on the southern end!
• Wildlife spotted:  Various snakes 
• Vegetation: Hardwoods, wildflowers
• Associated Website:   Tunnel Hill State Trail - Parks (illinois.gov)
• Primary Author:  James

Back in May, Cheryl and I drove to St. Louis for Fan Expo. On the way home, we stopped in Vienna, Illinois to check off one of the long rail trails we've had on our list for a while, the Tunnel Hill State Trail. 

This is a 45-mile trail from Harrisburg to Karnak, with a spur north to El Dorado. Despite the trail passing through two decent sized towns, Harrisburg and Vienna, we were unable to find a shuttle service. Cheryl asked on the Rails to Trail site on Facebook for help locating a shuttle, and a local bike rider named Jeanne volunteered to drive us to Harrisburg so we could bike back to Vienna, where we were staying at the Perkins House Inn, a bed and breakfast not too far off the trail. 

We stayed in the Bicycle themed room

Homemade coffee cake at the Perkins House Inn

Driving up, we discussed all the wildlife we might encounter, bears, bobcats, eagles, deer, and various snakes. Alas, all the mammals decided to hang out elsewhere while we biked, leaving us primarily to spot snakes (a rat snake, a rough green snake, and a scarlet milk snake). We skipped the El Dorado segment, which looked on Google maps to run primarily along a highway rather than through the more scenic territory to the south. 

The Harrisburg segment is also right next to a highway. You're riding along the back side of fast-food restaurants and gas stations. It's not scenic, but it is convenient to hop off the trail for a bit to eat before buckling in for the 35 miles of rural country between Harrisburg and Vienna. 

Once you leave Harrisburg, you swifty enter forests and farmland, and for the most part you're riding up a gentle grade. There are some road crossings, but we didn't encounter any traffic. The trail is mostly shady. The crushed surface is fine for most bikes. Wide tires would be best, but I've ridden a bike with skinny tires on worse surfaces. Over time, the fact that you're going uphill with no meaningful downhill portions starts to become evident in your legs. Fortunately, this uphill does eventually pay off when you reach the eponymous tunnel that the trail is named for. This is the highest part of the ride, so you can now look forward to many miles of downhill as you head on to Vienna. 

The tunnel itself is just long enough that you probably will want to bring a bike light, but not so long you can't grit your teeth and plunge forward chasing the circle of light at the end of the tunnel. 

Heading south from the tunnel, you quickly arrive at Sandburg Junction, where ice cream and bottled water is for sale on an honor system. Chow down on an ice cream sandwich, then hop back on the trail for several of the most scenic miles of trail as you descend into Vienna. Vienna has a nice trailhead and park.

If you still have it in you to keep riding, the trail continues on from Viena to the small town of Karnak, then onto a connection trail that ends at the Barkhausen Cache River Wetlands Center. The terrain of this section is completely different from the gentle mountains of the tunnel. Now, you're in perfectly flat fields and wetlands, an easy ride. But bring bug spray! We actually tackled part of this section after we ate dinner on the first day of our ride, and as the sun was going down the mosquitoes were waking up and we cut our ride short while we still had a few pints of blood. We returned the following morning, doused in Deep Woods Off, only to find the trail bugless and extremely pleasant in the cool morning air. 

If there was an official shuttle service, this would be an excellent one-day ride from end to end. If you have strong legs and lungs, I imagine there are some people who could tackle this as a single day, out and back ride. But, taking two days to tackle the full trail gives you more time to see everything and enjoy the scenery. It's well worth the journey! 

Biking the Tanglefoot Trail in Mississippi

 

• Date Biked:  January 11, 2022
• Posted Mileage: 43.6
• Total miles Tracked: 44.61
• Type of Trail: Paved Rail Trail
• Conveniences:  Storm shelters, picnic tables, restrooms, water fountains
• Best Features:   A flat, straight trail with 44 miles of easy biking
• Worst Features:  It's a flat, straight trail for 44 miles...
• Wildlife spotted:  Maybe one deer? It was very cold. I imagine there's more to see in warmer weather. 
• Vegetation: Hardwoods, wildflowers
• Associated Website:   Maps & Mileage Chart | Tanglefoot Trail
• Primary Author:  James

A lot of this, for a very long way!

January can be a rough month for biking in North Carolina. So, when we had an event in New Orleans the first weekend of the New Year, we were excited to build in two extra days for riding trails in Mississippi. We knew things might get a little chilly, but it had to be warmer than North Carolina, right?

Hah hah, no. January 10 and 11 brought some sort of polar vortex deep south that brought daytime temps in the 30s plus a savage wind chill. We got out of the car to get gas on January 10 and when I got back into the car we decided to skip riding that day and save our stamina for the following day when the high might creep over 40 and the wind gusts would die down to only 20 miles an hour. 

We are wearing pretty much every item of clothing we packed for this trip.

Despite the cold, the Tanglefoot Trail turned out to be a top-notch ride. Running from New Albany to Houston, this is an excellent overall riding experience. You are in farmland or woods for most of the trip with very infrequent road crossings. But, every ten miles or so you roll through a small town with a few businesses adjacent to the trail. You can pack light on this ride, since there's numerous places to hop of the trail to grab a bite.

The trail has several shelters along the route. Some have bathrooms and water, but most don't. The shelter in Pontotoc not only has bathrooms and water fountains, it has USB charging ports above the fountains! This was plainly designed by someone who has actually thought about the needs of people who are tackling a full day of riding. 

Water and electricity in the same tight space. What could go wrong! 

We stayed at the Trailhead Bike and Bed in Houston, which is directly adjacent to the southernmost trail head. We had breakfast at Gather, a charming coffee shop a few blocks away, then the Bike and Bed shuttled us to the far end of the trail in New Albany. New Albany is definitely the larger of the two towns, but there doesn't seem to be a lot going on at 9am on a Tuesday when the windchill is in the 20s. We snapped our mandatory photo of the trailhead arch and rolled on. 

On days you're going to ride 40+ miles, it's fine to eat cinnamon buns heavier than your coffee cup.

New Albany is proud of their trailhead! 

Looking through our photos, we have a lot of pictures of vanishing points. Except for the occasional squiggle, the trail is pretty much a straight line. In warmer weather, when we might have been more motivated to draw out the ride, it might have been fun to explore the towns of Ecru or Pontotoc. We did stop at the Algoma Country Store, which was wonderful, and highly recommended. 

Seriously, like, 50 photos identical to this. 

Ecru, MS

Algoma Country Store

A good place to eat!

One of the highlights of our ride was watching sheepdogs tending sheep!

From time to time, there are trees!

Rolling back into Houston, having our lodging directly next to the trailhead was wonderful given how cold we were by that point. Being able to transition from riding to a hot showing in under 10 minutes is a great way to wrap up a ride! We really can't think of another rail trail we've visited with such great accommodations directly adjacent to the end of the trail. This really boosts the Tanglefoot Trail up the list of the best trails we've ridden.

Trailhead Bike and Bed. Come for the biking, stay for the bed! 

The Houston trailhead.

If you like rail trails, this one is a worthy destination. Just, you know, try to time it on a day without a polar vortex. 

Downtown Houston

Biking on Bulls Island, Awendaw, SC

 

• Date Biked:  November 16, 2021  
• Posted Mileage: lots of 1-3 mile roads and trails
• Total miles Tracked: 15 miles
• Type of Trail: sandy trails
• Conveniences:  Storm shelter, picnic tables
• Best Features:   Gators!  Shells! Boneyard! Birds!
• Worst Features: Only accessed by ferry. No water fountain on island. 
• Wildlife spotted:  Gators.  Dolphins. Too many birds to list. 
• Vegetation: maritime forest
• Associated Website:   https://www.coastalexpeditions.com/bulls-island/
• Primary Author:  James

Bulls Island is a wildlife preserve less than an hour's drive north of Charleston or roughly two hours from Myrtle Beach. It can only be reached by ferry on a morning or afternoon slot. No one lives on the island, making it a haven for abundant wildlife. The beaches are covered in shells, and the remnants of an eroded maritime forest leave gnarled, sun-bleached trees rising from the waves at high tide.  

It is possible to kayak over. We've done this before, but it's 5 miles in each direction, and changing tides leave you with a limited window of time to explore the island. If you take the ferry over in the morning and return in the afternoon, you'll have about six hours to wander around. If you just want to walk the beach and maybe look at a few interior ponds, hiking the island will let you see a fair amount. But, if you really want to maximize the distance you can cover, you should bring a sturdy mountain or hybrid bike. 

Yes, this is how close to an alligator you are!

The roads are mostly flat but still challenging due to loose sand. Your hard work will be rewarded, however, as you can see every major habitat on the island in a single day.

Our chosen route took us up the first road to the northern dikes. At the remains of an old fort, you can turn off onto a dike and ride that over to an observation tower, then press on to the boneyard beach. Expect to see alligators, from baby's floating in ditches to giants basking in the middle of the roads. Most of the gators are pretty skittish. Fortunately, if even one in ten sticks around to eye you warily, you'll have plenty of chances for some good photos.

And don't forget the birds! Spoonbills, wood storks, and multiple species of herons and egrets. Make sure you bring a camera with a zoom lens! 

Some of the most haunting photos you'll take will be when you reach the boneyard. Bikes aren't allowed on the beach, alas, but even a short walk up and down the beach is going to bring you to the skeletal trees, and, probably, to an abundance of shells. Cheryl has been there before when the beaches were practically empty of shells. It's a wild habitat. It's never the same beach twice. 

When we came off the beach, we rode the Lighthouse Road that runs the full length of the island. Most of the road is bikeable, and a dense canopy will provide plenty of shade. This road doesn't give you many glimpses of the biggest ponds, but we did find young gators hanging out in a ditch. On the way back, you can take the side road around Summerhouse Pond. This was the densest gathering of birds we spotted on the trip. 

The ferry doesn't charge extra to take your bikes over, but you must request it when you make your reservation.  

November is an excellent month to visit. You won't get baked by heat or sucked dry by mosquitos, and many of the birds only visit during cooler months. Go during a weekday, and once you leave the dock you'll feel like you're all alone on the island. Bring more water than you think you'll need and you'll have a great experience, as long as you don't accidently ride over a gator.