River-to-River Trail official guide now available online

The River-to-River Trail Society announces the publication of its new, official online guide to the entire River-to-River Trail.  

The trail guide is available to all, without charge, on the society’s website at rivertorivertrail.net by going to the site and then clicking on “Trail Information.” 

Users will have the option of downloading and printing either the entire guidebook, or only those pages covering a particular section of the trail in which they are interested. 

Users also may download the guide to their smart devices, because the guide is fully hyper-linked for easy navigation. 

The trail guide is intended for both hikers and horsemen, and should prove essential reading to both alike, the society said in a news release.

The River-to-River Trail stretches 157 miles across Southern Illinois, from Elizabethtown on the Ohio River to Grand Tower on the Mississippi. 

Following a three-year effort to generate updated and accurate maps, and a 2017 re-marking of the entire route, the River-to-River Trail has become one of the premier long distance hiking and equestrian trails in the Midwest, and will now provide an essential boost to outdoor recreation and tourism in Southern Illinois. 

The new guidebook is being issued by the society as a part of the same project, and contains maps of up-to-the-minute accuracy. 

This is the fifth edition of the trail guide, and is the first to be offered free online. It is also the first revision of the guidebook since 2011. 

The online format provides the society with the means to keep the trail guide constantly up to date, as changes are made in the route of the trail or new information becomes necessary or available. 

The 140 pages of the guidebook contain 17 chapters detailing each section of the trail, including the historic eastern section beginning at Battery Rock, as well as chapters on trail safety, equestrian use of the trail, and use of online hiking maps. 

The maps of all sections of the trail have been brought up-to-date and checked for accuracy. 

The information on points of interest near the trail has been greatly expanded. 

New to the guidebook are charts showing mileage and changes in elevation along the trail. 

The guidebook is copiously illustrated with maps and photographs throughout.

Society vice president William Gilmour of Metropolis is the author of the new edition, with assistance from several other members of the society. 

Shawn Gossman, of hikingwithshawn.com, contributed a chapter on trail safety. Keith Kibler, of the Shawnee Trail Conservancy, contributed a separate chapter on riding the trail on horseback. 

The society voiced appreciation to the staff of the U.S. Forest Service/Shawnee National Forest for its assistance with the maps, and to the guide’s advertisers for permitting the trail guide to be offered in a format that makes it free to all.

The Gazette-Democrat

112 Lafayette St.
Anna, Illinois 62906
Office Number: (618) 833-2158
Email: news@annanews.com

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