The Sam Vadalabene Bike Trail, is a paved 21.5 mile biking/walking trail located in southwestern Illinois, located just north of the

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

core urban area. The trail was named after

Sam M. Vadalabene Salvador Martin "Sam" Vadalabene (July 31, 1914 – May 1, 1994) was an American politician. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Vadalabene served in the 29th Infantry Regiment in Europe during World War II. Vadalabene lived in Edwardsville, Illinoi ...

, a member of the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state, State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adop ...

. The trail parallels both the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

and the Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Byway and was designated as a

National Recreation Trail The National Trails System is a series of trails in the United States designated "to promote the preservation of, public access to, travel within, and enjoyment and appreciation of the open-air, outdoor areas and historic resources of the Nati ...

in 2006.American Trails 2006 designations
retrieved August 23, 2007 The trail is included as part of the

Confluence Greenway In 1997, with support from The McKnight Foundation, a group of non-profit organizations led by Trailnet formed a partnership to plan and implement the Confluence Greenway. The Confluence Greenway was planned as a system of parks, conservation and r ...

. The south end of the trail is located at Piasa Park, located about five miles northwest of

Alton Alton may refer to: People *Alton (given name) *Alton (surname) Places Australia *Alton National Park, Queensland * Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne Canada * Alton, Ontario *Alton, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Alton, New Zealand, ...

(), and the north end of the trail is located at

Pere Marquette State Park Pere Marquette State Park is an protected area in southwestern Jersey County, Illinois, United States. It is located near the city of Grafton, Illinois, at the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Illinois River. The park is located on I ...

near Grafton (). Other attractions along the trail include the village of Elsah,

Chautauqua Chautauqua ( ) was an adult education and social movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua bro ...

, the city of Grafton, limestone bluffs rising up to 250 feet (75 m) high, and the Marquette Monument. The original fifteen miles of the trail were completed in 1979. At the south end of the trail, connections can be made to both the

Confluence Trail The Confluence Trail, part of the Madison County, Illinois Transit (MCT) bikeways network, is a bike trail between Granite City and Alton, Illinois's Russell Commons Park. The majority of the trail is paved asphalt on top of the Mississippi River ...

and the

Katy Trail Katy Trail may refer to the following places in the United States: * Katy Trail (Dallas) 3.5 mile trail in Dallas, Texas * Katy Trail State Park The Katy Trail State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Missouri that contains the Katy Tr ...

References

External links

Sam Vadalabene Great River Road Bike Trail
on TrailLink

on American Trails Bike paths in Illinois Protected areas of Jersey County, Illinois Protected areas of Madison County, Illinois 1979 establishments in Illinois Protected areas established in 1979 {{Illinois-protected-area-stub