These photographs were taken during a hike along the Isaak Walton Nature preserve back in September of 2006. This preserve crosses an old railroad line that the Illinois Central Railroad had used during its heyday. The line is now gone and only remnants of its presence remain - most of what remains of the line has been reclaimed by nature. There's a great deal of variety within the preserve, from secluded paths through the forest to numerous clearings and ponds. Everything is clean and well taken care of - which is odd for a suburban trail such as this.

Glenwood Oaks was another trail that I passed through - like Isaak Walton, this trail passes through a former railroad line. However, the path is rather linear and it goes on for many many miles. I ended up hiking about three miles of the trail before turning back as the evening was beginning to set in and I had other things to do.

All photographs are copyright Matthew A. Hein. To request a high resolution copy or to comment, please contact me. Thanks for looking!

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