Illinois trails · Chief Illini Trail
Chief Illini Trail
A 7.7-mile out-and-back in Illinois, with 62 ft of climbing.
Length
7.7 mi
Elevation gain
62 ft
Difficulty
Hard
Max grade
15%
Steepest mile
+62 ft
Tread at ≥10% grade
1.4 mi
Shape
out-and-back
Surface
Ground
Elevation profile
The climbing is spread fairly evenly along the route. It gives back about 570 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:54 a.m., the sun rises at 6:21 a.m. and sets at 7:27 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:55 p.m. (CDT) — 13 h 06 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 15.4-mile round trip takes roughly 5 h 46 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 12:08 p.m. — 7 h 19 min before sunset.