Moraine View State Recreation Area (Blog Hike #310)

Trails: Tall Timber and Timber Point Trails

Hike Location: Moraine View State Recreation Area
Geographic Location: north of Le Roy, IL (40.40276, -88.72615)
Length: 2 miles

Difficulty: 1/10 (Easy)
Dates Hiked: July 2010, July 2017
Overview: An easy hike with tall trees on possibly the shortest backpack trail in America.

Area Information: https://dnr.illinois.gov/parks/park.moraineview.html

Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=940311
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: Between Bloomington and Champaign, take I-74 to exit 149 (this is Chestnut Street).  Exit and go north, heading for Le Roy.  Take Chestnut St. 0.7 miles to US 150 and turn left on US 150.  Follow US 150 0.5 miles to West Street and turn right on West St.  West St. becomes CR 2600E when it leaves Le Roy.  Notice the gentle hill you climb just north of Le Roy.  Take CR 2600E north 4.1 miles to CR 900N and turn right on CR 900N.  Where CR 900N deadends at the park, turn right on the loop road around Dawson Lake.  The Timber Point parking area is about 1 mile ahead on the left.  To reach the Tall Timber trailhead, continue another 0.2 miles to the parking area on the right.

The hike: Located just off of I-74, Moraine View State Recreation Area is the perfect leg-stretch destination when you are tired of seeing corn and soybean fields along the interstate.  Truth be told, this area used to be fields as well, but the soil here was too poor and dry to be sustainable as farmland.  Thus, in 1959 the State of Illinois purchased the initial 760 acres, and in 1963 Dawson Lake opened for fishing.  Additional land purchases bring the acreage to today’s total of 1687.

            The “moraine” feature of this area is the main reason this land was unsustainable as farmland.  A moraine is a ridge of rock and dirt left by glaciers from the last Ice Age.  This park sits on the Bloomington Moraine, one of the largest moraines in the United States.  In fact, the gentle hill you drove up on the way in is the edge of this moraine.  The higher land on the moraine is dryer and hence less suitable for farming.

            There are three short trails in the park for you to explore.  The 0.5 mile Tanglewood Nature Trail (not described here) is located at a picnic area near the north end of the lake.  The two trails located on the south end of the lake are the ones described here.  The 1.5 mile Tall Timber Trail is a backpack trail complete with 12 reservable tent sites.  The 0.5 mile Timber Point Trail is wheelchair accessible and provides good views of the lake.

Trailhead: Tall Timber Trail

            Starting with the Tall Timber Trail, begin at the signboard at the right side of the parking area.  Another board here shows the campsites along this trail that have been reserved.  The wide gravel trail heads into the woods on a nearly level course.  All of the forest along this trail has a dense, green understory during the summer months.  All major species of trees in the region are present, including maple, oak, ash, hickory, and black walnut.  Also, the Tall Timber Trail is well-named, as you will find unusually large examples of many of these species along this trail.  Make no mistake about it: although this is a short hike, this is deep woods.  Come wearing bug repellent in season.

Hiking the Tall Timber Trail

            Very quickly you pass the first of the 12 tent sites, all of which are marked with orange numbers on metal posts.  The main trail is not blazed, but if you avoid the trails leading to the tent sites, you should have no trouble staying on course.  Overnight camping is allowed with a permit, so the tent sites do technically make this trail a backpack trail, perhaps the shortest and easiest backpack trail anywhere.

At 0.3 miles, the trail crosses a small gravel-bottomed stream on a wide wooden bridge with railings.  The stream held minimal water on my visit, but the steep eroded banks told me that lots of water comes down this channel after a heavy rainstorm.  Across the stream, the trail climbs gradually for what turns out to be the hardest climb of the hike.  The park brochure describes this terrain as moderate, but this land is pretty flat in my opinion.

Crossing a small stream

            Near 0.9 mile, the trail recrosses the stream on another bridge.  Now back on the north side of the stream, you soon arrive at an intersection with the dirt trail to the Ol’ Orchard Group Tent area.  Blazes bearing the universal hiker symbol instruct you to continue straight here.  Note that you could turn left here for a short-cut back to the trailhead.

            Continuing on the Tall Timber Trail, at 1.25 miles you arrive at the west bank of Salt Creek, which is much larger than the one you crossed earlier.  Just upstream from here is the dam that forms Dawson Lake.  The trail does not cross the creek but curves left to head back to the trailhead.  At 1.5 miles, you intersect the trail to the group camp again.  A right turn and short walk will return you to the parking area.

            A short drive back toward the park entrance will take you to the Timber Point Trail, which departs from a small restroom building at the rear of the parking area.  Note that you could walk the 0.2 miles along the road to the Timber Point picnic area, but due to the narrow, curvy road with nonexistent shoulder, such a walk is not recommended.  The gravel trail immediately forks at the restroom building.  For no reason in particular, I took the right trail and used the left one as a return route.

Dawson Lake

            The gravel trail descends slightly, heading for the lake.  A single switchback required to make the trail wheelchair accessible reduces the grade even more. At 0.2 miles, the trail reaches the lake shore, where nice views of the lake unfold with the dam on the opposite bank.  Curving left, a short stretch along the lake is followed by a short walk back uphill to close the loop and complete the hike.