Illinois trails · Red Cedar Trail
Red Cedar Trail
A 10.8-mile out-and-back in Illinois, with 351 ft of climbing.
Elevation profile
The climbing leans toward the middle third: 44% of the ascent falls between mile 3.6 and mile 7.2. It gives back about 1,272 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
Red Cedar Trail junction. About 30 min drive (12 mi) from Carbondale. 37.60232, -89.17055 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:37 a.m., the sun rises at 7:03 a.m. and sets at 6:21 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 6:47 p.m. (CDT) — 11 h 17 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 21.5-mile round trip takes roughly 8 h 20 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 3:23 p.m. — 2 h 58 min before sunset.
Loop options
- Red Cedar Trail + Horse Trail (Giant City State Park) — 5.1 mi loop, 566 ft gain
- River to River Trail + Red Cedar Trail + Horse Trail — 5.9 mi loop, 729 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Little Grand Canyon — 13.4 mi
- Godwin — 14.4 mi
- Kinkaid Lake Trail — 23.2 mi
- Bell Smith Springs — 28.4 mi