Home Destinations United States IllinoisPalos Forest Preserves Ride

Moderate

Cycling

🇺🇸 United States

Recorded Trail

This track was recorded on the ground by an actual expedition vehicle.

ID: US-IL-09

Palos Forest Preserves Ride

Added on 9 Oct 2026

Logged by @trailxon19 August 2017

17.6 km dirt singletrack loop through the Palos woods southwest of Chicago with about 490 m of climbing.

Trail Map

Initialising Map Engine...

Trail Profile

General Instructions

Check the forest preserve trail status before riding, as trails close when wet.

Mission Logs140 waypoints

Distance	Direction & Instruction	Gradient
0.0 km	NW Start Point	-1%
0.5 km	N Continue on track	-1%
0.9 km	W Terrain Change	6%
1.0 km	NW Terrain Change	-1%
1.4 km	E Terrain Change	-8%

Note: Gear suggestions are based on terrain gradient and are for reference only.

Weather check

At Start

214m

Sampling Micro-Climate...

41.7042, -87.8955

Slide to preview conditions across the entire route • Point: 41.7042, -87.8955 @ 214m

Quick Stats

Distance

17.62 km

Type

Cycling Sector

Elevation Range

184m - 265m

Max Elevation

265 m

Max Gradient

37.9%

38.9%

Highlights

Palos Trail System
Swallow Cliff Woods
Saganashkee Slough

Field Radio Protocol

VHF-UHF Communication

Signal Verified

Emergency Simplex

146.520MHz

Team Coordination

446.006MHz

Scout Primary

146.400MHz

Propagation Telemetry

Ridge Line

92%

Gorge Floor

18%

Sector Relay: Sector Alpha Relay• 12-18 KM Range

Regulatory Compliance

VHF/UHF frequencies are for monitoring and emergency coordination only. Transmitting on these bands may require an Amateur Radio License or regional government permits. Check local telecommunications laws before operation.

Technical Analysis

Total Ascent

+492 m

Total Descent

-491 m

Ruggedness Index

Terrain Roughness Index

Vertical displacement per km. Typical range: 0 (Smooth) to 100+ (Extreme Mountain).

0 (Smooth)50 (Steep)100+ (Extreme)

55.8

Tortuosity Index

Route Curviness Index

Ratio of actual path to straight line. Typical range: 1.0 (Direct) to 3.0+ (Switchbacks).

1.0 (Direct)2.0 (Winding)3.0+ (Serpentine)

3.99

Gradient Distribution

Flat (0-3%)44%

Moderate (3-8%)32%

Steep (>8%)25%

Surface & Hydrology

Paved7%

Unpaved93%

Surface Spectrum Analysis

Asphalt

Dirt Track

93%

Water Crossings

Includes only technical water fords where the vehicle actively enters a stream or riverbed. Permanent bridges are excluded from this count.

Difficulty Analysis

SCORE: 43

Difficulty is determined by a technical multi-vector analysis of elevation profile, surface quality, and topographic intensity.

Resulting CategoryModerate

Bounding Box (WGS84)

MIN LAT: 41.702194

MAX LAT: 41.722402

MIN LON: -87.905294

MAX LON: -87.882047

Point Spacing: 3.9 m • Engine: TrailX Precision GPX ANALYTICS v1.0.0

Reviews & Discussion0

Expedition notes, route modifications, and surface updates shared by the community.

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Plan this trip

Before you go: Palos Forest Preserves Ride

Best time to go

May, Jun, Sep, Oct

Late April to June and September to October are the most comfortable months; summers are hot and humid, and winter brings snow and freezing temperatures across the state.