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Hill State Trail offers habitat to a variety of animals. of variety a to habitat offers Trail State Hill IISG07-232 PRT0000000 IISG07-232 ildlife abounds in this section of the state, and and state, the of section this in abounds ildlife W T unnel from late fall to early spring. early to fall late from Printed by authority of the State of Illinois 50M–11/06 Illinois of State the of authority by Printed Natural Resources Natural brings the river valleys and rocky bluffs into sharp focus sharp into bluffs rocky and valleys river the brings Department of Department L672 1/8-07 T 217/782-9175 TTY 217/785-0067, 62702; IL and/or the Equal Employment Opportunity Officer, IDNR, One Natural Resources Way, Springfield, Way, Resources Natural One IDNR, Officer, Opportunity Employment Equal the and/or Illinois cottonwood and sweet gum trees gum sweet and cottonwood , poplar tulip , hickory oak, you believe you have been discriminated against, contact the funding source’ funding the contact against, discriminated been have you believe you civil rights office rights civil s viduals regardless of race, sex, national origin, disability, age, religion, or other non-merit factors. If factors. non-merit other or religion, age, disability, origin, national sex, race, of regardless viduals the profuse greenery of summer, the lack of foliage on the on foliage of lack the summer, of greenery profuse the and those funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies is available to all indi- all to available is agencies other and Service Wildlife and Fish U.S. the by funded those and Equal opportunity to participate in programs of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Resources Natural of Department Illinois the of programs in participate to opportunity Equal lend their beauty to the summer landscape. Contrasting with Contrasting landscape. summer the to beauty their lend forest floor each spring, while prairie flowers and grasses and flowers prairie while spring, each floor forest Ameritech Relay Number, 1-800-526-0844. Number, Relay Ameritech offers ever-changing vistas. Woodland wildflowers dot the dot wildflowers Woodland vistas. ever-changing offers Natural Resources’ TTY number, (217) 782-9175, or use the use or 782-9175, (217) number, TTY Resources’ Natural As one landform melds into another, the countryside the another, into melds landform one As Hearing-impaired individuals may call the Department of Department the call may individuals Hearing-impaired n of Tourism at 1-800-2CONNECT. at Tourism of Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s Bureau Opportunity’s Economic and Commerce of Department For more information on tourism in Illinois, call the Illinois the call Illinois, in tourism on information more For n 6302 or visit our website at http://dnr.state.il.us. at website our visit or 6302 Resources W Resources ay Springfield, IL Springfield, , 62702-1271, call (217) 782- (217) call 62702-1271, of Natural Resources, Of Resources, Natural of fice of Public Services, One Natural One Services, Public of fice For more information on state parks, write to the Department the to write parks, state on information more For n leave only footprints. only leave W hope you enjoy your stay. Remember, take only memories, only take Remember, stay. your enjoy you hope e Actions by nature can result in closed roads and other facilities. other and roads closed in result can nature by Actions n Pets must be kept on leashes at all times. all at leashes on kept be must Pets n of 15 minors. 15 of At least one responsible adult must accompany each group each accompany must adult responsible one least At n with the site office to avoid crowding or scheduling conflicts. scheduling or crowding avoid to office site the with use the park’s facilities, they are required to register in advance in register to required are they facilities, park’s the use While groups of 25 or more are welcome and encouraged to encouraged and welcome are more or 25 of groups While n V ienna, IL 62995, (618) 658-2168 (618) 62995, IL ienna, Rt. 146 East, P East, 146 Rt. .O. Box 671 Box .O. T unnel Hill State T State Hill unnel rail rail T State s T unnel Hill unnel Area’s ancient cypress-tupelo swamp. cypress-tupelo ancient Area’s Karnak, it emerges from the Cache River State Natural State River Cache the from emerges it Karnak, and south of Vienna it passes through a lush wetland. At wetland. lush a through passes it Vienna of south and STATE TRAIL STATE half of the trail’s length. By New Burnside, it’s among bluffs, among it’s Burnside, New By length. trail’s the of half Tunnel Hill Tunnel National Forest purchase area, remaining there for roughly for there remaining area, purchase Forest National New Castle, the old railroad bed enters the Shawnee the enters bed railroad old the Castle, New The trail at Harrisburg begins in flat farm country farm flat in begins Harrisburg at trail The At At . Natural Features Natural Tunnel Hill State Trail River Trail; the U.S. 76 Bicycle Route, a part of the At one time, the rumble of freight cars reverberated TransAmerica Bike Route; and the Trail of Tears, the primary through the narrow tunnel. Wooden trestles, with their system route the Cherokee Indian tribe took in the winter of 1838-39 of slanted supports and horizontal cross pieces, spanned during their forced move from the Great Smokies to numerous bluffs and creeks. Passengers in Pullman cars Oklahoma. clocked the miles with these and other landmarks as they traveled one of southern Illinois’ most scenic routes. History Today, the railroad is gone. The route, known as Tunnel The nation’s history and economy are entwined with 19th- Hill State Trail, remains. century railroad construction since the federal government Tunnel Hill State Trail stretches for 45 miles from made land available to the states for developing a cross- Harrisburg to Karnak. The trail continues on a trail spur for country railway system. Among the developers in Illinois was 2.5 miles from Karnak to Cache River State Natural Area - a hapless Civil War general, Ambrose Burnside, perhaps Henry Barkhausen Wetlands Center on the old Chicago and best remembered for his style of facial hair, for which his Eastern Illinois railroad bed. compatriots transposed the syllables of his last name to create The 9.3-mile section between Tunnel Hill and Vienna the term “sideburns.” In 1872, Burnside and others began the crosses trails already known to outdoor recreationists: the Vincennes and Cairo Railroad, named for its terminuses at River-to-River Trail, which extends from the Mississippi to the Vincennes, Ind., and Cairo, Ill. In addition to passengers, the Ohio River; the unmarked American Discovery Trail, which in railroad transported coal, salt, wood products and orchard- southern Illinois follows back roads and some of the River-to- grown peaches and apples. Basic Bicycling & Hiking Rules 1. Be courteous. ABUTMENT TRESTLE – 6 MILES NORTH OF VIENNA 2. Ride and dress for safety and weather. 3. Pass on the left and call out “passing on The railroad changed hands through the years. Other left” to other cyclist and hikers. operators and owners included the Wabash, St. Louis, 4. Yield to cross traffic and hikers. Pacific; New York Central; Penn Central; Conrail; and, during 5. When stopping, call out and pull to side of its most productive years, the Cleveland, Cincinnati, trail, do not block trail. Chicago, St. Louis line, also known as the CCC & St. Louis 6. Carry extra water. or Big Four. The last owners were the Southern Line and, following a merger, Norfolk Southern Railroad. In 1991, Norfolk Southern gave the State of Illinois the railroad right-of-way between Harrisburg and Karnak, where it had abandoned operations. The Department of Natural Resources has worked to develop the railroad ballast as a trail for hikers, joggers and cyclists, surfacing the trail with crushed limestone, installing privy toilets and providing drinking water. The first segments of Tunnel Hill State Trail opened in 1998. The trail was completed in the fall of 2001. BREEDEN TRESTLE – 2.5 MILES SOUTH OF TUNNEL HILL The 23 picturesque trestles along the sections do of Tunnel Hill State Trail feature decking and side Tunnel Hill ra do El rails, which entice trail users to stop. The trestles State Trail To range in length from 34 to 450 feet. The longest is Breeden Trestle, which is also the highest at 90 Marion 1 feet. It is located 2 /2 miles south of Tunnel Hill. Harrisburg 13 s Feazel Street ile The trail corridor, which varies from 40 to 200 M .1 feet in width, connects numerous communities: 5 Ledford Karnak in Pulaski County; Belknap, Vienna, Tunnel Hill and New Burnside in Johnson County; Carrier TUNNEL HILL STATE TRAIL SITE OFFICE 166 s Mills Stonefort in Williamson and Saline counties; and e il M Carrier Mills and Harrisburg in Saline County. .7 New Castle 6 Each has parking areas from which hikers, runners hunting are not allowed on the trail. and cyclists can access the trail. Although an experienced cyclist should be Lake of Egypt s The parking lot with amenities at Harrisburg is able to travel the complete trail in about a day, ile Stonefort M 4 TRAIL NORTH OF BREEDEN TRESTLE city-owned and maintained. Located at Walnut hikers are advised that the trail does not have s 4. Street and U.S. Route 45, it is at the northern end camping facilities. Several campgrounds, however, Bluebirds and other songbirds flit through the of a 2.5-mile-long, city-owned trail.

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