Illinois trails · Lusk Creek
Lusk Creek
A 16.3-mile network in Illinois, with 345 ft of climbing. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
The climbing is spread fairly evenly along the route. It gives back about 1,128 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Heads up
Getting there
LUSK CREEK access. 37.56620, -88.54926 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:56 a.m., the sun rises at 6:23 a.m. and sets at 7:25 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:51 p.m. (CDT) — 13 h 02 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 16.3-mile route takes roughly 6 h 12 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 12:35 p.m. — 6 h 50 min before sunset.
Loop options
- LUSK CREEK + PACO + 487K — 9.9 mi loop, 697 ft gain
- BARGER BRANCH + SALTPETER CAVE + LUSK CREEK — 6.3 mi loop, 144 ft gain
- Little Lusk Creek + River To River Trail + LUSK CREEK — 9.7 mi loop, 1,066 ft gain
Nearby trails
- River To River Trail — 3.7 mi
- One Horse Gap — 5.7 mi
- New Gog - Karbers Ridge — 6.0 mi
- One Horse Gap Lake — 6.7 mi