North Channel Trail

The North Channel Trail is biker-friendly, so you’ll just have to share. But there’s just too much natural beauty, including a rebounding Chicago River and grassy park after park, to surrender the path to those two-wheelers.

Start your jog at Argyle Street and Francisco Avenue (1), and do about three miles up to Touhy Avenue and three miles back. For a run that’s a total of three miles, turn back at Peterson Avenue instead. If you’re feeling extra caffeinated, you can finish your run with wind sprints on North Park University’s excellent rubberized track, which is open to the public (2). Or, for a more leisurely day, catch a football game at North Park’s Holmgren Field (3)(3100 W Foster Ave). If that name sounds familiar, it’s because the stadium is named after the former Green Bay Packers and current Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren (who’s a dead ringer for a walrus).

The path is just a stone’s throw from (4) Thillens Stadium (Devon and Kedzie Avenues), where you might spy the next Derrek Lee in the peewee leagues. Feeling ambitious? Run north along McCormick Boulevard to see the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park (from Touhy Avenue to Dempster Street) (5). Must-sees in this alfresco “museum” include Maurice Blik’s Second Breath, Ted Gall’s Sun Worshipper and Patrick McDonald’s Weeee (you’ll understand the title when you see it). If you go to the end at Dempster, it’s a nine-mile run, all told.

Thankfully, the run is void of commercial intrusion—unless you count the Lincolnwood mall (who knows, maybe you need a new loofah from Bath & Body Works) or its industrial park. Sadly, Lincolnwood has long since shed its reputation as a “saloon-infested” town, when it was known as Tessville. Just listen to Mother Nature’s sweet song (you’re there to run, right?) and enjoy the fact that most running fools stick to the overcrowded lakefront.—Tim McCormick

Map illustration: Headcase Design