Scenic strolls: Favorite places for a walk or hike in the Tri-Cities

Through the years, it has often been mentioned in this column which parks, paths and neighborhood routes my wife and I walk.

The idea behind those notes has been to encourage people who haven’t done so to check out some of the great walking areas we have in the Tri-Cities area and, of course, for those who may prefer running or cycling these trails.

Which of these walking sites is our favorite? It’s a question some have asked, but I have never answered, partly because we like all of them. Also, we haven’t put a lot of thought into picking one.

Until now. With spring warmth hopefully inching closer after the cold snap earlier this week, it’s a good time to answer that question.

In addition to highlighting some of our top walking routes, I will reveal which one is our favorite.

First, let’s go through the sites and mention something about each, starting in St. Charles and heading south to Batavia.

In St. Charles, we spend plenty of time at LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve, walking the various loops there. It’s a wonderful prairie and forest combination and the throwbacks to history with the old barns, Sholes School and the Durant-Peterson house stand out.

We have not walked Norris Woods enough to tout it, but Delnor Woods provides a shorter walk, unless you take the trail farther when it hooks into the Persimmon Woods subdivision.

Another spot is parking at the Municipal Center and heading north into Pottawatomie Park, walking part of the neighborhood along Second Avenue while walking south back to Main Street before heading west to the Municipal Center. Or taking the footbridge just before Pottawatomie Park across the Fox River and walking around downtown.

Mount St. Mary Park stands out for us in that my wife went to the Mount St. Mary High School that long ago faced the wrecking ball to make way for the ViewPointe development.

Still, the park has only gotten better through the years, tucked next to the Fox River and featuring the Sculptures in the Park yearlong display. It has areas for kids tucked on the north side, but a pleasant atmosphere along the trail. We take that trail all the way north into downtown St. Charles, or just make the full loop of the park itself.

In Geneva, Wheeler Park is just south of Mount St. Mary and we’ve done as many loops, it not more, at Wheeler than any other site. It’s a good distance for your dog and you can leave the park to walk Geneva neighborhoods in any direction. You can also start in Wheeler Park and cross Route 31 to go north to Mount St. Mary, or vice versa.

Bennett Park in Geneva on the east side of the river is a good starting point to head north into St. Charles or cross Route 25 to head east into the neighborhoods around Good Templar Park.

Island Park in Geneva comes into play if we start near Third Street downtown and make our way east to the park and then back to our car. It’s a nice spot along the river, though in the past a lot of rain can affect it, and the old Mill Race property currently is unsightly.

Fabyan Forest Preserve has the great mix of history with the Col. Fabyan Estate and villa, in addition to a nice trail along the river that can take you all the way to Batavia to the south, or St. Charles to the north, depending on which side of the river you start.

Peck Farm Park trails in Geneva provide a more open-prairie feel than any other and can be a long, breezy walk, depending on which loop you decide to take.

Batavia’s Riverwalk features an enjoyable walk to the Riverrain Apartments and the Batavia dam area to the north, or south along the river to hook up with a trail that takes you to Clark Island.

The Les Arends Forest Preserve in Batavia provides a denser forest view along the river and can take you all the way to North Aurora, where many would consider a breakfast stop at Harner’s.

We also like Engstrom Park in Batavia, across Main Street from Batavia High School, when we want a shorter walk for the dog and something different from a park along the river or forest preserve.

There are others in the area that get an occasional visit, such as Johnson’s Mound in Elburn, Blackwell Forest Preserve near Warrenville, and Nelson Lake in Batavia.

So, which one would we consider our favorite? For many reasons, it has to be Mount St. Mary Park in St. Charles. The distance, the options to hook up to other paths or go into town, the sculptures, the trees, the massive beds of daffodils in the spring, its plantings and structure near the flagpole, and its proximity to the river generally makes this park our top go-to place.

A prolific walker

My friend Steve Martin of St. Charles may be best known for his banking career, ongoing community service and various top-citizen honors he has earned. These days, we also know him and his wife Cindy as prolific walkers.

When we are on our jaunts, we have bumped into Steve a few times. He’s also shown off his photo skills in posting a number of photos on Facebook from his day’s walk.

When asking what he would consider his favorite walk, it turns out the minds of great walkers think alike.

“As you well know, we are so fortunate to have many beautiful places in the Tri-Cities to enjoy a walk,” he said. “Our most frequent and favorite local destinations are Mount St. Mary Park, Fabyan Forest Preserve, and LeRoy Oakes Preserve, probably in that order.”

Martin mentioned that he and his wife “expand their range” a bit, having become members of the Morton Arboretum in Lisle. “We greatly enjoy our frequent visits there as well,” he noted.

On that topic, my wife and I would agree. We are never disappointed when walking the Arboretum or Cantigny in Wheaton. We’re lucky to have both nearby.

An Earth Day jaunt

Speaking of hikes, the Kane County Forest Preserve is offering an Earth Day History Hike at LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve.

The free event takes place from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 22, at the preserve, 37W700 Dean St. in St. Charles.

And, of course, this is just one of many different types of hikes offered across the county’s preserves during the year.

A ‘Million’ things to love

Having met and spoken to Sam Phillips, the founder of Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee, when he was a speaker at a 1999 newspaper convention in Memphis, I was more interested than usual to finally take in “Million Dollar Quartet” in Aurora.

After all, it was Phillips who orchestrated the early days of rock music with some of the biggest names Americans would ever get to know.

Moving closer to a Paramount Theatre record of 600 performances at its Stolp Island Theatre, there was little doubt “Million” was going to hit all of the marks that make for a highly entertaining show.

And it did.

As for the music, it was a solid bet that a musical based on an evening jam session that took place in late 1956 at Sun Records featuring Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins was going to be rousing.

And it was.

As the production’s title says, this was a quartet of million-dollar talent and each performer in the show was equally tremendous. I often mention a favorite, but this one had equal parts. Kind of like picking the best of those original rock ‘n roll greats. It’s hard to do.

But, the one who caught my eye the most had to be Garrett Forrestal as Jerry Lee Lewis. He was a bundle of nervous tension that played out in terrific piano playing, boisterous exchanges with others at the recording session and a constant eye on the only female in the room. In short, funny and wild.

The same would hold true in contemplating the best numbers in the show. The cover of a Chuck Berry tune, “Brown Eyed Handsome Man” marked the first in which all four played together in this historic recording session. It provided a sample of what was to come the rest of the show, and provided a bit of history of the times when Matt McClure, playing Carl Perkins, mentioned that Berry’s original tune was titled “Brown Skinned Handsome Man,” but “they” made him change it.

He went on to acknowledge Berry was a massive influence on all of them. And the musicians noted that, when learning their trade, they had to sneak to places where they could hear Black musicians.

It was a reminder that not only was this 1956 recording session historic, it took place during significant racial tensions in the country.

There are a million reasons “Million” has had a long run. It’s that good, and there’s still a chance to see it, as the show runs through May 31.

dheun@sbcglobal.net