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Friends of the Fox River offers guided canoe trips

The Friends of the Fox River will conduct a series of canoe trips on different sections of the Fox River from spring through late fall.

These trips will explore the river and its relationship with the land that creates it and special natural areas along the Fox River.

Each month's trip will be on a different section of the river, from Algonquin in the spring down to Oswego in the fall.

Trip details vary depending on the trip and weather. For most trips, participants meet at the "put-in" at 9 a.m. Trips usually end around noon to early afternoon.

You will receive an email with complete information for your trip following your registration.

Tour fees are for a guided and interpreted trip. These trips support the work of Friends of the Fox River to preserve, restore, and protect the Fox River watershed's resources by connecting people with nature through education, research, restoration, and advocacy.

Trip fees are $25; $20 for members, students and seniors; or $10 for children, age 6 to 12.

Canoe trips continue on the second and fourth Sunday of each month (except Trip 8 on Sept. 17) until the last trip on Oct. 22. Experienced canoe guides will lead each trip. Trip fees are per person and include canoe, gear, a pre-trip paddling skills and safety review, and a few stories about the river, its history, its heroes, and what's going on with the river today.

To sign up, visit friendsofthefoxriver.org.

River Trip 2 will be 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, July 23, at Carpentersville Dam and head to Voyageurs Landing in Elgin, about 3.85 miles. After a brief paddling skills review and safety talk, the trip begins just downstream of the Carpentersville Dam. Participants will paddle through the pleasant urban corridor of Carpentersville and East and West Dundee. For the last mile or so of the trip the river broadens out as it begins to pool above the next dam in Elgin. This easy family friendly river trip ends at Voyageurs Landing Forest Preserve's boat ram on the west side of the river just north of the I-90 Tollway.

On Aug. 13 and 27, the 4.45-mile trips will begin at Jon Duerr Forest Preserve boat ramp in South Elgin and head to Ferson Creek Park in St. Charles. It will begin at the Jon Duerr Woods canoe launch at a geologically interesting place on the river. They will paddle past the Five Islands, around the largest and sharpest big bend in the river. Then it's an easy paddle to the take-out beach at Ferson Creek Park.

On Sept. 10 and 17, the 3.9-mile trips will begin at Glenwood Park Forest Preserve in Batavia Township and head to Illinois Avenue in Aurora. Participants will set out from a lovely riverside forest preserve on the south side of Batavia and paddle between wooded islands all the way down to the short portage at the North Aurora Dam. Then it's an easy float and paddle down to the sand beach at the Illinois Avenue Boat Ramp in Aurora.

On Oct. 8 and 22, the 5.8-mile trips will begin in Montgomery and head to Saw Wee Kee Park in Oswego. This trip begins at a riverside park on North River Street in Montgomery and continues through the town's wooded river corridor. Participants will pass the confluence of Waubonsee Creek in Oswego, paddle through the wooded islands downstream of the town to the final take-out at Saw Wee Kee Park.

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