Illinois trails · Poplar Creek Red Paved Trail
Poplar Creek Red Paved Trail
A 8.7-mile out-and-back in Illinois, with 95 ft of climbing. Reaches Barrington Road Pond and other lake destinations. Managed by Forest Preserve District of Cook County.
Elevation profile
Essentially flat — no sustained climb anywhere along its 8.7 miles.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Barrington Road Pond (lake)
- Bode Lakes (lake)
Getting there
Poplar Creek Orange Unpaved Trail access. About 15 min drive (8 mi) from Schaumburg. 42.04540, -88.19379 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:35 a.m., the sun rises at 7:03 a.m. and sets at 6:13 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 6:41 p.m. (CDT) — 11 h 09 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 17.5-mile round trip takes roughly 6 h 34 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 1:37 p.m. — 4 h 35 min before sunset.
Loop options
- Poplar Creek Orange Unpaved Trail + Poplar Creek Brown Unpaved Trail + Poplar Creek Red Paved Trail — 1.1 mi loop, 43 ft gain
- Poplar Creek Orange Unpaved Trail + Poplar Creek Green Unpaved Trail + Poplar Creek Red Paved Trail — 2.3 mi loop, 131 ft gain
- Poplar Creek Orange Unpaved Trail + Poplar Creek Green Unpaved Trail + Poplar Creek Red Paved Trail — 8.4 mi loop, 365 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Busse Forest Trails Red Paved — 10.5 mi
- West Branch DuPage River Trail — 12.9 mi
- Salt Creek Greenway — 15.2 mi
- Fox River Trail (2.0 mi) — 18.5 mi