On Sunday, September 27, my husband, Dillon and I headed out to Dirksen Park in Pekin, again. I wanted to see if I could find where the trail crosses the creek, but coming from the opposite direction.
We cross the first bridge after leaving the parking lot and I noticed the leaves are really changing in the two weeks since I was last there. When we crossed the bridge, we headed left this time. Last time I was there, I had headed to the right.
It was a beautiful, curving path along the creek with some fun “obstacles” along the way. They are meant for the bikers, but hey, we can have fun on them, too!
After this area, we met the first steep incline of the day and it probably was the hardest one of the whole trail. I was glad Scott was carrying Dillon, this time. After a mile or so in a fairly wooded area, we came to an open pasture. It has a slight incline right when you come out of the woods, but heads back downhill after you get to the top.
After this spot, you are mostly back in the woods most of the time. We came up to the spot where AllTrails tells us to cross the creek. Again, we could not find any indication of where we are supposed to cross, so we kept going. We ended up doing the North Blue loop, which is about 3/4 of a mile. It was probably less pretty than most of the spots on Orange, but it had some really interesting spots.
We got to this one area when the trail is really close to the edge and you are pretty high up looking down at the creek. These next to photos are looking down at a bridge and then standing on that bridge looking up.
With the leaves starting to fall on the ground, Dillon wanted to pick up every single one and throw it in the creek. They definitely have some fun, huge ones in the park if you are looking to go on a leaf hunt.
This trail took us back to Orange, back to the area around the creek where it says we are supposed to cross. So we headed back on the same path as I did the first time visiting the park. I’m still frustrated I can’t find where it crosses, but really enjoyed this longer loop. I was glad we came back to check it out, so I know what to expect for the next time we go.
We ended up doing 4.4 miles. Its a hilly hike and keep your eyes peeled for mountain bikers, but overall, I really love this park and its becoming one of my favorites.
Thanks for hiking with Dillon and me!