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Chicago Portage National Historic Site, Lyons, IL

Photo: Zol87 from Chicago, IL, USA, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Sightseeing

Chicago Portage National Historic Site

Western end of a historic route that linked Great Lakes and Mississippi River waters, now a forest preserve site near Lyons.

S Harlem Ave, south of 47th St, Lyons, IL 60402 · Lyons, IL

About Chicago Portage National Historic Site

This national historic site in suburban Cook County marks the western end of an old overland route between the Des Plaines River and the Chicago River. Native travelers used it, and later French explorers, canal builders, and railroad planners depended on it. The land is managed by the Forest Preserves of Cook County as a natural area with marsh, floodplain forest, woodland, and savanna. Visitors can hike or walk the trails, and a section of the Salt Creek Trail System runs through the site with an unpaved loop. A memorial depicting the French explorers' portage sits in the parking area, and a path leads from it into the wilder portage area.

  • #national historic site
  • #portage
  • #Native American history
  • #Illinois and Michigan Canal
  • #hiking

What's around here?

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