Tunnel Hill State Trail

State park in Illinois, USA

Tunnel Hill State Trail
Tunnel Hill, high point and eponym of the Tunnel Hill State Trail
Location	Johnson, Pulaski, Saline, and Williamson Counties, Illinois, United States
Nearest city	Vienna, Illinois
Area	45 miles (72 km)
Governing body	Illinois Department of Natural Resources

The Tunnel Hill State Trail is a bicycle trail running from Eldorado to Karnak, Illinois. The trail runs along the former bed of a part of the Cairo and Vincennes Railroad, a transportation unit led during its early years by Civil War General Ambrose Burnside. The Cairo & Vincennes became a branch line of the Southern Railway before its trail section shut down in the late 1900s.

The northeast end of the trail is in Eldorado, on Trolley Road just north of U.S. Route 45. (37°48′10.5″N 88°27′25.0″W / 37.802917°N 88.456944°W / 37.802917; -88.456944). The southwest end of the trail is west of Karnak just off Illinois Route 37 at the Cache river wetlands center (37°18′41.4″N 89°1′4.0″W / 37.311500°N 89.017778°W / 37.311500; -89.017778).

The trail connects to several trails including the River to River Trail; the Illinois southern route of the American Discovery Trail; the U.S. Bicycle Route 76 (part of the TransAmerica Bike Route); and the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.^[1]

The trail is 55 miles (89 km) long. The trail is suitable for both hiking and gravel cycling. The trail surface is crushed limestone. During the summer, the surface is hard packed and easily ridden on a road bicycle. However, at other times of the year, the trail may be soft and is better navigated on a gravel bike, mountain bike or hybrid.

Parking is available at several locations. (Vienna, Karnak, Cache river center, Tunnel Hill, New Burnside, Stonefort, Carrier Mills, Harrisburg, and Eldorado) However, full services (restaurants, lodging, groceries) are only available in Harrisburg, Carrier Mills, and Vienna. There are limited services elsewhere along the trail. (Soda machines in Stonefort and Karnak)

References

^ "Tunnel Hill State Trail". Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved July 19, 2018.

External links

"Tunnel Hill State Trail". Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
American Trails-National Recreation Trails
Map from the League of Illinois Bicyclists website - pdf
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

Protected areas of Illinois

Federal

National Historic Sites and Parks and national monument	Chicago Portage Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Lincoln Home New Philadelphia Pullman
National Forest	Shawnee
National Wildlife Refuges	Chautauqua Crab Orchard Cypress Creek Driftless Area Emiquon Great River Hackmatack Kankakee Mark Twain Meredosia Middle Mississippi River Port Louisa Two Rivers Upper Mississippi River
National Grassland	Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
National Trails/National Heritage Area	Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area Illinois and Michigan Canal Lewis and Clark Mormon Pioneer Trail of Tears
National Natural Landmarks	List of National Natural Landmarks in Illinois
National Wild and Scenic Rivers	Middle Fork Vermilion River
Wetlands of international importance	Cache River-Cypress Creek The Emiquon Complex Dixon Waterfowl Refuge Chiwaukee Illinois Beach Lake Plain (shared with Wisconsin) Upper Mississippi (shared)

State

State Parks	Apple River Argyle Lake Beall Woods Beaver Dam Buffalo Rock Castle Rock Cave-in-Rock Chain O'Lakes Channahon Delabar Dixon Springs Donnelley/Depue Ferne Clyffe Fort Massac Fox Ridge Gebhard Woods Giant City Hennepin Canal Parkway Horseshoe Lake Illini Illinois Beach James "Pate" Philip Jubilee College Kankakee River Lake Murphysboro Lincoln Trail Lowden Matthiessen Mississippi Palisades Moraine Hills Morrison-Rockwood Nauvoo Pere Marquette Red Hills Rock Cut Rock Island Trail Shabbona Lake Siloam Springs South Shore Starved Rock Walnut Point Weinberg-King White Pines Forest Wildlife Prairie William G. Stratton Wolf Creek
State Historic Sites	List of Illinois State Historic Sites (including, Cahokia World Heritage Site)
State Forests	Big River Hidden Springs Lowden-Miller Sand Ridge Trail of Tears
State Recreation Areas	Clinton Lake Eagle Creek Eldon Hazlet Frank Holten Golconda Marina Johnson-Sauk Trail Kickapoo Lake Le-Aqua-Na Moraine View North Point Marina Prophetstown Pyramid Ramsey Lake Randolph County Sangchris Lake Stephen A. Forbes Washington County Wayne Fitzgerrell Weldon Springs William W. Powers
State Fish and Wildlife Areas	Anderson Lake Baldwin Lake Banner Marsh Carlyle Lake Coffeen Lake Crawford County Des Plaines Double T Edward R. Madigan Green River Hamilton County Heidecke Lake Horseshoe Lake (Alexander County) Iroquois County Kaskaskia River Kinkaid Lake Kishwaukee River LaSalle Lake Mackinaw River Marshall Mautino Mazonia/Braidwood Mermet Lake Middle Fork Mississippi River Newton Lake Jim Edgar Panther Creek Peabody River Pekin Lake Powerton Lake Ray Norbut Rend Lake Rice Lake Sahara Woods Saline County Sam Dale Lake Sam Parr Sanganois Shelbyville Silver Springs Snakeden Hollow Spring Lake Ten Mile Creek Turkey Bluffs Union County Woodford
State Natural Areas	Cache River Franklin Creek Fults Hill Prairie Goose Lake Prairie Harry "Babe" Woodyard Illinois Caverns Kidd Lake Piney Creek Ravine Prairie Ridge Revis Hill Prairie Sand Prairie-Scrub Oak Sielbeck Forest Spitler Woods Volo Bog
State Trails	Mormon Trail Trail of Tears Tunnel Hill