Hike Location: Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge
Geographic Location: northeast of Havana, IL (40.38507, -89.96120)
Length: 3.6 miles
Difficulty: 3/10 (Easy/Moderate)
Date Hiked: May 2019
Overview: A pair of out-and-backs along the east shore of
the North Pool.
Refuge Information: https://www.fws.gov/refuge/chautauqua/
Directions to the trailhead: From the intersection of
SR 97 and US 136 in Havana, take Promenade Street north. Promenade St. becomes E. Manito Road after it
leaves the town of Havana. Drive a total
of 7 miles from SR 97 to reach CR 1950 E.
Turn left on CR 1950 E. Drive CR
1950 E 3.3 miles to the small signed North Roundtree parking lot on the
left. Park here.
The hike: Located
about 25 miles downstream from Peoria, Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge is one
of three sites that form the Illinois River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge
Complex. Before it became a refuge, this
land was drained and diked for agricultural purposes. Yet the Illinois River proved too powerful to
be tamed in this way, and after only two years the land became a shallow
backwater that received large amounts of silt from the river. The refuge dates to 1936, when the Fish and
Wildlife Service purchased the land.
Most national wildlife refuges are
good only for short birdwatching hikes, but a new system of nature trails
constructed in the summer of 2018 by the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) provides
options for longer hikes at Chautuaqua. These
trails allow hikers to explore the low bluffs that line the east side of the
Illinois River’s wetlands, and they make for good bird viewing during the
spring and fall migrations. The YCC
built 4 new trails, two of which are used to form the double out-and-back
described here.
 |
| Trailhead at North Roundtree parking area |
From the small North Roundtree
parking area, the common entrance trail heads northwest into the woods. Very quickly the trail splits with the longer
North Pool Trail going left and the shorter Beer-can Trail going right. This hike will eventually go both directions,
and for no reason I turned left to hike the North Pool Trail first.
The narrow North Pool Trail heads
southwest through a narrow strip of trees with the open wetland known as North
Pool to the right and moderately traveled CR 1950 E audible but usually
not visible to the left. Some wooden
arrows nailed to trees mark this trail, but the trail markers are rather
infrequent. While the trail was discernible
on my visit, some areas were rather overgrown.
More foot traffic is needed to pound this trail in, and the route will
need to be marked better and/or re-cleared in the near future.
 |
| Hiking the North Pool Trail |
At 0.3 miles, a spur trail exiting
left leads to a small parking lot on CR 1950 E that serves the Roundtree Trail,
another of the new trails constructed by the YCC. Continue straight to remain on the North Pool
Trail. Soon the trail briefly uses the
shoulder of CR 1950 E to cross a small stream on the road bridge, and this
section may require wading through some waist-high grass. Look for the wooden arrow that marks where
the trail reenters the woods.
 |
| North Pool |
The rest of the North Pool Trail
undulates slightly as it stays in the narrow strip of forest. The forest features a lot of oak trees,
hickory trees, and honeysuckle. Some
nice views of the North Pool can be had to the right; water levels were very
high due to recent rains on my visit.
The trail starts following a buried electric cable as it approaches the
Eagle Bluffs boat launch, which is reached at 1.3 miles. Eagle Bluffs boat launch features a parking area,
a picnic area, a restroom building, and of course a boat launch.
 |
| North Pool at Eagle Bluff boat launch |
The North Pool Trail ends at Eagle
Bluffs boat launch, and no other trails lead to this point. Thus, you need to head back up the North Pool
Trail to its north end. Alternatively,
if you really want to form a loop or trail conditions are very bad, you could
walk back on the shoulder of the road.
When you get back to the North Pool Trail’s north end, head north on the
Beer-can Trail.
Supposedly the Beer-can Trail is
named for a ring of beer cans that marks a secret birding hotspot, and despite
the trail’s odd name it was in much better shape than the North Pool Trail on
my visit. The Beer-can Trail offers more
of the same scenery, and I never found the metal construction for which this
trail is named. I did see a decent
number of songbirds on this trail.
 |
| End of Beer-can Trail |
Just past 3 miles, you reach the north end of the Beer-can Trail. Another trail called the Beach Trail also
comes to this point, but it stays very close to North Pool and was underwater
on my visit. Thus, I retraced my steps
along the Beer-can Trail to return to the trailhead and complete the hike. While you are here, the Chautauqua Nature
Trail located near the refuge headquarters offers an ADA-accessible 0.5 mile
loop, and it is the oldest and most popular trail at the refuge. The Chautauqua Nature Trail makes a nice
short add-on to this hike.
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