River to River Trail

[tawa]

Has anyone hiked or have any information on the River to River Trail in Southern Illinois including Garden of the Gods area. I would be interested in hearing from anyone that has hiked this trail in reference to how well it is marked, camping options, water supplies and or shuttle options.
Thanks in advance.

[excuses]

One of the two trails in my area I'd like to hike (the other being Land Between the Lakes). Here is a site http://www.rivertorivertrail.com/home.html
I don't have any real hiking other than a mile or two. Some of it is shared with horses.

[chiefduffy]

http://www.rivertorivertrail.com/home.html

I hope to hike a section next fall. It runs right through an area I use to stealth camp and hike in when I was a kid (Shawnee).

I've heard it's a great trail for sections, not so much for a thru hike.

Please share what you learn.

PS: I grew up in Newburgh

[Wolf - 23000]

I tried to do a small part of it last year. I end up walking two days in a great big circle. It is a nice trail but difficult to follow in several places.

Wolf

[Kerosene]

Some of it is shared with horses.

Besides dealing with the inevitable horse poop, horse hooves tend to really tear up a trail, resulting in extended mud puddles or deep sand, depending on the soil makeup. I ran into this on the Waterloo-Pinckney Trail in southeastern Michigan, and it makes for some tough walking.

[ChinMusic]

The GOTG area and to the west is nice. They seem to have tried to make the trail easier to follow in recent years but with all the interconnected trails it can get quite confusing. Bring a GPS and cookie crumb to help keep from getting off path.

I have never hiked this area without getting on the wrong trail from time to time.

[The Solemates]

pls report back if you end up hiking the trail. ive always wanted to hike it!

Or, if you are considering section hiking it over the course of several weekends I may be willing to do that with you so we could help shuttle one another.

PS - buy the guidebook - it is fairly decent. I bought it a few years back at the outfitter in Carbondale.