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The Geneva Spur leaves the Elgin Branch at Geneva Road and County Farm Road, about two miles northwest of Wheaton, and runs west to the Fox River at Geneva. It starts by crossing the West Branch DuPage River through Winfield Mounds, a savanna preserve named for its prehistoric burial mounds, then passes through Winfield and West Chicago along the south edge of Reed-Keppler Park. West of town it borders the remnant tallgrass of West Chicago Prairie and the DuPage Airport before reaching the Fox River Trail between Bennett Park and Riverside Park in Geneva. The surface is crushed limestone with a rail-flat grade. Beyond the east end, the Elgin Branch continues to Wheaton and Elgin.
Illinois Prairie Path: Geneva Spur
Your comfort. Prognosticated.
-Cory
In a typical year the Illinois Prairie Path: Geneva Spur has about 97 to 137 days of excellent weather for popular activities such as hiking, dog walking, e-biking, running, walking, biking, and birding, with May, September, and October the best months.
Hourly comfort scores for the next 15 days of weather, tuned to your activity and your own thresholds.
Plan your visit to this trail. Get the best windows for a comfortable outing.
Enjoy the Illinois Prairie Path: Geneva Spur!
In half of past years, color along the Illinois Prairie Path: Geneva Spur peaks October 24 to November 6, typically around October 30. The trail has 15% deciduous coverage, with the majority being bur oak, white oak, boxelder, black cherry, and American elm.
The Chicago, Aurora and Elgin ran its last passenger train at noon on July 3, 1957. The line had opened on August 25, 1902 as the Aurora, Elgin and Chicago, an electric interurban that drew power from a third rail. It carried commuters to the Loop, milk from Fox Valley farms, and some freight. Postwar expressway construction cut its direct route into downtown, and riders drifted away. Freight ended on June 10, 1959, and the Illinois Commerce Commission authorized full abandonment on July 6, 1961. On September 30, 1963 the Chicago Tribune printed a letter from Morton Arboretum naturalist May Theilgaard Watts asking for a footpath on the empty right of way. DuPage County bought the property that same year. Her supporters incorporated the Illinois Prairie Path in 1965, leased 27 miles from the county in 1966, and had the first trail signs up by 1967. In June 1971 the Interior Department named it a National Recreation Trail. A state lease in 1972 pushed the path across Kane County to the Fox River, and in 1979 it grew east through four Cook County towns. DuPage County took over maintenance in 1986. This segment follows the youngest CA&E line, the Geneva branch, opened in 1909 from Geneva Junction on the Elgin line and closed to trains on October 31, 1937 in favor of buses. It was the last piece of the railroad the path reclaimed.
Illinois Prairie Path: Elgin BranchFox River Trail
