Great Lakes - Circle-navigating the Chain-O-Lakes in NE Illinois

Circle-navigating the Chain-O-Lakes in NE Illinois

Well, John Knapp and I spent Labor Day by cycling around the Chain-O-Lakes in Lake County. It’s a demanding trip. We used the Metra line to travel to western Lake Forest.

From there we traveled north to Libertyville, West to Volo and crossed the Fox River at the Town of Johnsberg. From Johnsberg we traveled north to Wilmont, WI. From Wilmont we traveled east to 136th Ave which becomes Hunt Club as you continue south.

From Gurnee we took Oplaine Rd to St. Marys Rd. We headed east on Everett Rd and took the Skokie Valley MUP to Northbrook. 117 miles later, I was home in Chicago at 7:30 PM.


The route map is here: http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/il/lake-county.-il/514125224060065358

There is one error in the map near Rt 173. The route says to turn left on Sledschlag Rd from English Prairie Rd. I remember looking for Sledshlag Rd but not finding it. I looked on Google maps satellite view this morning and still can't find it below Rt 173. Wilmont Rd can be avoided by continuing north on Richardson Rd, crossing Rt 173 and winding through a subdivision until Sledschlag Rd appears.

The sections that Turbo Turtle suggested were golden. This includes the Liberyville to Volo route and the Wilmont, WI to Hunt Club route.

The section from Johnsberg, IL to Wilmont, WI was tough. And Gurnee still sucks.

My Mileage totaled 117. The train trip saved about 30 miles and got me home before dark.

Michael

Nice ride, thanks for posting the route. I was up in the area but wasn't able to get any riding in despite having my bike with me because of holiday obligations. You had great weather for it.

Hi,

I would only want to repeat the route on a weekday. Some of the traffic was too fast for comfort on Bay Rd (as you cross the Fox river), on Wilmont Rd (I took this by error) and in Gurnee.

I would also want seven to eight hours to complete it, this is 10% slower than my usual pace. We had a head wind from Johnsberg to Hunt Club Rd. I would expect wind to be a factor in any case.

Cheers,

Michael

Hi,

I would only want to repeat the route on a weekday. Some of the traffic was too fast for comfort on Bay Rd (as you cross the Fox river), on Wilmont Rd (I took this by error) and in Gurnee.

I would also want seven to eight hours to complete it, this is 10% slower than my usual pace. We had a head wind from Johnsberg to Hunt Club Rd. I would expect wind to be a factor in any case.

Cheers,

Michael

Yeah, I've ridden those roads and wasn't comfortable with the traffic either. There's just no good roads in some of those areas it seems, particularly when you have to cross one of the rivers. Thanks for the updates, I'm trying to keep notes on some of the roads. I wish there was some easy system for doing so while you're actually riding but I haven't come up with any way to aid my failing memory.

Question: which Wilmot Rd did you find to be the problem? Looking at the map now, there's the Wilmot Rd/Fox River Rd/County HWY W that runs NE into Wilmot. There's also the Wilmot Rd./116th/County HWY C that runs east-west into Wilmot. Then there's the WEST Wilmot Rd. from your map that runs east-west followed by a turn Northward. Which of these did you ride on but found to be too busy? I've ridden the Wilmot Rd./116th/Country HWY C road but unfortunately can't recollect what it's like.

Yeah, I've ridden those roads and wasn't comfortable with the traffic either. There's just no good roads in some of those areas it seems, particularly when you have to cross one of the rivers. Thanks for the updates, I'm trying to keep notes on some of the roads. I wish there was some easy system for doing so while you're actually riding but I haven't come up with any way to aid my failing memory.

Question: which Wilmot Rd did you find to be the problem? Looking at the map now, there's the Wilmot Rd/Fox River Rd/County HWY W that runs NE into Wilmot. There's also the Wilmot Rd./116th/County HWY C that runs east-west into Wilmot. Then there's the WEST Wilmot Rd. from your map that runs east-west followed by a turn Northward. Which of these did you ride on but found to be too busy? I've ridden the Wilmot Rd./116th/Country HWY C road but unfortunately can't recollect what it's like.


I ended up on Wilmot Rd by error in Illinois just north & south of Route 173. Staying on Richardson is much better. I also took Wilmont in Wisconsin between 83 and 45. The road has a good shoulder, but traffic was fast in the 60+ mph range. I try to avoid roads with high speed traffic.

Spring Grove Rd north of Johnsberg also had fast traffic. It is better than Wilmot however. Bay Rd, south of Lake Pistakee is also fast and well traveled. No alternative route available.

The section Northeast of Spring Grove Rd that includes Sunset, Mayer, Blivin and Richardson roads was good and I would recommend that section. The mapped route is Wisconsin was good when I stuck to it, also.

Michael