The Rock Island Trail State Park is a long public

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetc ...

in the west-central region of the U.S. state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

. It was designated 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 2003. It passes through portions of Peoria and Stark counties. The southern end of the trail is currently located at Pioneer Parkway in north

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria Metropolitan Area in Ce ...

, and the northern end is in Toulon, Illinois, the county seat of Stark County. The right-of-way served as a railroad line from 1871 to 1963, was unused in 1963-1989, and has been a public trail since 1989.

History

The trail derives its name from the former

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At the end ...

, commonly known as the ''Rock Island''. The current Rock Island Trail is a fragment of what was once a predecessor railroad, the Peoria and Rock Island Railroad built in 1869-1871, stretching southeastward from the

Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of cities (originally four, see History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in northwestern Illinois. These cities are t ...

of Illinois and Iowa to Peoria. The ''Rock Island'' soon acquired the ''Peoria and Rock Island'' and added it to their extensive trackage throughout the North American

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, a ...

; and this branch line once delivered large quantities of

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

, rye, and other small grains to the distilleries of Peoria for the manufacture of American

blended whiskey A blended whiskey (or blended whisky) is the product of blending different types of whiskeys and sometimes also neutral grain spirits, colorings, and flavorings. It is generally the product of mixing one or more higher-quality straight or singl ...

. With the coming of

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholi ...

in 1920, use of the railroad for this purpose declined, and the last train ran in 1963. The Rock Island Trail became one of the first rail-trail conversions in

downstate Illinois Downstate Illinois refers to the part of the U.S. state of Illinois south of the Chicago metropolitan area, which is in the northeast corner of the state and has been dominant in American history, politics, and culture. It is defined as the pa ...

. The right-of-way was acquired for public use in 1965 and was deeded to the State in 1969, but it was only after a twenty-four-year period, in 1989, that the line was opened for use as a public trail. The official dedication came in May 1990.

Points of interest

From south (Peoria) to north (Toulon): * Pedestrian tunnel under Illinois Route 6 (Kellar Branch extension) *Kickapoo Creek Recreation Area, including a Class D camping area and of restored

tallgrass prairie The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America. Historically, natural and anthropogenic fire, as well as grazing by large mammals (primarily bison) provided periodic disturbances to these ecosystems, limiting the encroachm ...

(Fox Road, north of Alta) *Bridge over Kickapoo Creek (Cedar Hills Drive, south of

Dunlap, Illinois Dunlap is a village in Peoria County, Illinois, United States. Its population was 1,386 people as of the 2010 census. Dunlap is part of the Peoria metropolitan area and growth in the city of Peoria is extending towards the village. There are only ...

) *Class B tallgrass prairie remnant (County Line Road, north of Princeville, Illinois) * Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Depot and state trail headquarters (east side of

Wyoming, Illinois Wyoming is a city in Stark County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,429 at the 2010 census, up from 1,424 in 2000. It is the headquarters of the Rock Island Trail State Park. Wyoming is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Stat ...

) *Bridge over the

Spoon River The Spoon River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 tributary of the Illinois River in west-central Illinois in the United States. The river drains largely ...

( west of Wyoming)

References

External links

*
Friends of the Rock Island Trail Official Site
{{authority control Rail trails in Illinois State parks of Illinois Protected areas of Peoria County, Illinois Protected areas of Stark County, Illinois Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad National Recreation Trails in Illinois Protected areas established in 1989 1989 establishments in Illinois