The Lincoln Circuit Trail is a former Boy Scout trail constructed in the 1960s and following portions of the old Eighth Circuit Court trail that Abraham Lincoln traveled during his days as a lawyer on the Illinois prairie. The trail itself has long since been abandoned, but VCTA volunteers have successfully located and GPS tagged the former trail corridor. Several markers are even still present.
Formerly, the Boy Scout’s would begin at Homer Lake Forest Preserve where a stone marker still marks the beginning of the trail. Scout’s would then head eastward along Lincoln’s path where they encountered several documented Lincoln sites (which are all still present). Upon reaching Oakwood, the new version of the trail would connect with the Kickapoo Rail Trail heading east.
From the KRT trailhead on 150, the LCT would then deviate northward from the historical Eighth Circuit Trail, descend the hills bounding the Middle Fork, and enter the now abandoned “Pond 6” section of Kickapoo State Recreation Area. This is the most exciting portion of the trail!
This potentially high-impact segment of trail would effectively link the new trailhead for the Kickapoo Rail Trail, located along US 150, with Kickapoo State Recreation Area. The trail terminus would be just to the west of the Kickapoo Park Road bridge, completing a loop along both banks of the Middle Fork and crossing both the Kickapoo Rode bridge and KRT Trestle bridge. Additionally, the Salt Kettle Rest Area would be at the top of the hill mid-way between these points, effectively providing I74 access directly to KRSA.
In the area of Pond 6, VCTA volunteers have located the old trail bed and have been able to progress northward, under I-74 and up the hill on the other side, where it connects to the Salt Kettle Rest Area on I74. This rest stop is an Illinois Welcome Center and site of both a pioneer cemetery and an original salt kettle from the salt works located at the confluence of the Middle and Salt forks just to the south, overlooked by the KRT Scenic Overlook at Gray’s Siding Road.
Continuing north, the LCT then descends once again, traversing steep hill faces complete with majestic stone outcroppings and providing a breathtaking bird’s eye view of the Kickapoo Park Road bridge over the Middle Fork. At the bottom of the hill, the LCT would cross serene Glenburn Creek before ending at a stone marker just south of the road and off into the woods a few paces marking the trail terminus.
From here, future development to the north is possible and something VCTA is keenly interested in and advocates as the fruits of our trail work become apparent.