pulaski
county
johnson
county
williamson
county
saline
county
Little Cache
Reservoirs
Number 1
Vienna
Reservoir
Lake of
Egypt
Number
5
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45
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24
barkhausen
cacheriver
wetlandscenter
breedentrestle
146
147
166
146
169
169
37
37
12
13
34
34
145
142
142
13
3
3
N
miles
0 1
2
vienna
belknap
stonefort
new burnside
tunnel hill
carrier mills
harrisburg
eldorado
karnak
section eight woods
nature preserve
cave creek glade
nature preserve
heron
pond
preserve
cache river
state natural
area
s h a w n e e
n a t i o n a l
f o r e s t
Parking
Tunnel Hill
State Trail
Trailhead
Restrooms
Total trail length:
47.5
miles
Trail surface:
Crushed stone
map illustration by
daniellemarks.com
County line
Tunnel
i l l i no i s
Grassy Creek Rd.
Veterans
Dr.
Main St.
rails
to
trails
◆
spring/summer.13
11
TRAVEL
FACTS
GETTING THERE:
Amtrak
is a great option for travel
to Southern Illinois. The
Saluki, Illini and City
of New Orleans trains
each stop once a day in
Carbondale, 40 miles west
of Harrisburg. Amtrak’s
lines in Illinois offer “roll-
on” service, meaning you
can bring an unboxed
bicycle onboard for an addi-
tional $10. I bicycled from
Carbondale to Harrisburg
on State Road 13, which
has wide, paved shoulders.
From the wetlands center
I stair-stepped 40 miles
northwest on country roads
to Carbondale and caught
the train home.
Another car-free
option from Carbondale is
Greyhound
,
which offers
daily bus service to Vienna.
Bicycles may be stowed in
the baggage area under
the bus; bikes must be
boxed and there may be
an additional charge.
Harrisburg is a 90-
minute drive west of
Evansville Regional
Airport
in Indiana, and
a 2.5-hour drive south-
east of
Lambert-St. Louis
International Airport
.
The
wetlands center is an hour
drive northwest of the
Barkley Regional Airport
in Paducah, Ky., 3 hours
northeast of
Memphis
International Airport
,
and 3 hours northwest of
Nashville’s John C. Tune
Airport
.
To reach the
Harrisburg
trailhead
from I-57, take
State Route 13 east about
24
miles. Turn left on US
45
and head north for 0.15
mile. Turn left onWalnut
Street, then right on
Industrial Drive. The trail-
head is on the right.
To reach the
trailhead at
Tunnel Hill
(
the midpoint),
take I-24 to US 45 and head
north. Turn left on Tunnel
Hill Road and look for the
trailhead on the right, just
before Possum Rd.
To access the
wetlands
center
,
take Interstate 57
to State Route 146 and
proceed east for about 9.5
miles. Turn right on State
Route 37 and continue for
9
miles. Pass through the
town of Cypress and look
for the center on the left.
BIKE RENTALS AND
OUTFITTERS:
In Harrisburg,
You’re So Vane
(618-294-
8623
,
tinyurl.com/youre
sovane
)
sells handcrafted
weather vanes and rents
3-
speed, shaft-driven
(
chainless) cruiser bikes for
$15 a day. All rentals come
with helmet and lock. Store
visits and rentals are avail-
able by appointment only.
The store also offers bike
shuttle service along the
trail at the rate of $2/mile
for one or two passengers.
Sandburn Junction
(618-771-2825,
sandburn
junction.com
)
,
a mile south
of the tunnel, offers a vari-
ety of rental bikes, mostly
by Specialized, for $20 a
day, helmets included. The
store also does simple bike
repairs at no charge.
WHERE TO STAY:
There
are several hotels in
Harrisburg. Vienna has a
hotel and a nearby B & B:
Country Schemes B & B
(
illinoisbnb.com/display-
inn.php?id=17
).
Contact
the Southernmost Illinois
Tourism Bureau (800-248-
4373,
southernmostillinois.
com
)
for recommendations.
PERMISSIBLE USES:
Hiking, jogging, bicycling
and cross-country skiing
are permitted on the
trail. Motorized vehicles,
horses and hunting are
not allowed. Camping is
not permitted on the trail
but Shawnee National
Forest has three camp-
grounds within 10 miles
of the trail: Lake of Egypt,
north of Tunnel Hill; and
Teal Pond and Bell Smith
Springs, both southeast of
New Burnside. Sandburn
Junction plans to open a
trailside campground in
2013.
MAPS:
Download a trail
map
and other trail infor-
mation at the IDNR web-
site
:
tinyurl.com/tunnelhill
.
An interactive GIS map is
available at
traillink.com
,
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s
free trail-finder website.
FOR MORE
INFORMATION:
The
trail
headquarters
is located
in Vienna at 302 East Vine
Street, or State Route 146
East (618-658-2168
,
dnr.
state.il.us/Lands/land
mgt/parks/R5/tunnel.
htm
)
.
Information about
the Cache River Wetlands
Center is available at 618-
657-2064
,
tinyurl.com/
cacheriver
.
By Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
TrailLink
MAP BY DANIELLE MARKS