Now, when you talk Hennepin Canal, it can mean a whole lot of locations as the waterway consists of a main canal and feeder canal that traverse five northern Illinois counties and cover just over 100 miles. The canal terminates at the Rock River near Colona, IL just a few miles from our home and several of us paid a visit earlier this year to that section for some fishing (click here). However, this time our stop on the canal was just northeast of Sheffield, IL for a relatively brief walk around.
Unfortunately, the Visitor Center was closed at the time of our visit. It’s been quite a few years since I took in the displays it offers but recall that it was certainly worth a look as it features a neat mix of the area’s history, both the natural and the man-made kinds. We did take a hike across the bridge at the site, found some “secret” steps leading to the towpath and, of course, threw some sticks and walnuts into the water from high up on the bridge and low down at the lock.
Rating: 3.1 Marshmallows
(Scale of 1-5 Marshmallows, 5 is tops, rating is average of six family member votes)
Location: Hennepin Canal State Parkway near Sheffield, IL
Attractions: Visitor Center and Bridge #15
Camping: none at our stop but several along the length including a campground north of Geneseo, IL where our family camped back in 2007 (only two girls way back then).
Hiking/Trails: The entire length of the canal is bordered by a towpath providing 155 miles of level hiking path. Bikes and horses are also welcome although there are some stipulations.
Family Poll: What did you like most about the Hennepin Canal State Parkway?
Helena: “The bridge because of how old it was and liked throwing walnuts off of it.”
Carly: “I liked the big bridge because you could ride bikes on it and I liked looking down at the water and watching the sticks float by that we threw in.”
Jayce: “The view from the bridge and the face someone made on a tree.”
Zac: “The caterpillar hanging over the water and finding a knife.” (see pic below, kind of a weapon theme on our outings along with earlier Wildcat Den review)
Mom: “I liked throwing stuff from the bridge.”
Dad: “Fun to look at structures that were built between 1892 and 1907 and think of the human effort and ingenuity involved in the feat. While it never panned out as a feasible commercial waterway it sure provides an extensive outdoor corridor over a hundred years later.”
Similar to Wildcat Den (click here), a weapon found by Zac, luckily, also not real
Tough for the kids to get an overall feel for this spot as it was a brief stop at the end of a full afternoon and they were just antsy to get home. I would like to give it a return trip at some point when we can take in the Visitor Center and perhaps give camping a go somewhere along the line. I’ve also been interested in giving fishing a try but never got around to it and not really sure where best to invest my time. Got a few ideas but always open for any tips that anybody out there wants to send me via the email link on the page.
Top 5 Update tomorrow and another park review later in the week. Talk to you later. Troy