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The Main Stem is the original spine of the Illinois Prairie Path, running east from the three-way junction at Volunteer Park in Wheaton through Glen Ellyn, Lombard, Villa Park, and Elmhurst, then across the Cook County line through Berkeley, Bellwood, and Maywood to First Avenue. Metra commuter tracks share the corridor for the first two miles out of Wheaton. The riding is rail-grade flat on crushed limestone through DuPage County, with paved stretches in the Cook County towns and frequent street crossings the whole way. Two restored CA&E depots stand trailside in Villa Park. Beyond the west end, the Aurora Branch and Elgin Branch fan out from Wheaton.
Illinois Prairie Path: Main Stem
Your comfort. Prognosticated.
-Cory
In a typical year the Illinois Prairie Path: Main Stem has about 99 to 142 days of excellent weather for popular activities such as hiking, dog walking, e-biking, running, biking, birding, and walking, 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: Main Stem!
In half of past years, color along the Illinois Prairie Path: Main Stem peaks October 27 to November 8, typically around November 2. The trail has 12% deciduous coverage, with the majority being bur oak, eastern cottonwood, American elm, and boxelder.
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 is the original main line, the core of the 1966 lease from the Wheaton junction east through Glen Ellyn, Lombard, Villa Park, and Elmhurst, plus the 1979 extension through Berkeley, Bellwood, Hillside, and Maywood. Two CA&E depots still stand beside it in Villa Park.
Illinois Prairie Path: Aurora BranchIllinois Prairie Path: Elgin BranchGreat Western Trail (DuPage County)Salt Creek Trail
