Ottawa 2026 Weeks 3 & 4
Ottawa 2026 Weeks 3 & 4 | Section Hiking the I&M Canal Trail between Ottawa and La Salle | Hiking in Starved Rock State Park | January 2026
The second half of our time in Ottawa was the busier half for Curtis work wise, as it always is. But thanks to him taking the night shift and having a couple of nights off, we still had some daylight hours where we could get out and enjoy the warmer than average weather that had arrived to the region. We made one more trip to Starved Rock to hike some trails we hadn’t done before, and managed to knock out several more sections of the I&M Canal Trail between Ottawa and La Salle.
On our first afternoon before night shift commenced, we had brunch in Ottawa, visited the Ottawa Visitor Center for stamps and to get more ideas for local restaurants to try, and then hiked over 2 miles on the I&M Canal Trail from La Salle Street to Boyce Memorial Drive. In previous years, we’ve walked the trail through the East half of Ottawa — in 2023 we walked East from Fox River Park to N 2871st Street, then we walked to the Western terminus of the trail in La Salle, and in 2025 we walked West from Fox River Park to La Salle Street, the day after a snowstorm, with fresh untouched snow covering the path. I’ll never forget how excited that made Charlotte, how she became like a puppy, bouncing through the snow and searching for things buried beneath it.
Now it was time to close the gap from central Ottawa toward North Utica, where we left off over the weekend. This stretch of trail was tucked between neighborhoods and train tracks, so not the most scenic, but easy enough to complete. We planned to walk until we could find a good turnaround point, and when we made it to Boyce Memorial Drive, we found that there was another trailhead here. Good enough! We returned to the car, and still had plenty of time for Curtis to rest before his first night of work.
On his next night off, we went for a hike in Starved Rock, focusing on some trails on the East side of the park that we hadn’t hiked before. We parked at the trailhead for Ottawa & Kaskaskia Canyons, but before going to those, we followed the trail across the road and up to the Hennepin Overlook. The overlook was partly for Hennepin Canyon, which was a deep canyon tucked into the cliff, but had no water, snow, or ice to show off. We did enjoy the view out over the river though, especially as golden hour was approaching. We made our way back to the trailhead, then decided we had enough time to visit the other canyons. We first walked back to Kaskaskia, which was almost completely dry, totally different from the last time we were here. Last time it had been flowing and there had been a decent sized stream. Today it was still a little muddy on the trail, but we were able to walk right up to where the falls would be if there was water, and back into the cave behind it. After that, we realized that because of how wet it had been last time, we hadn’t been able to make it to Ottawa Canyon, so today we made our way back to that one with ease thanks to the dry creek. There were some icicles at the very top which deceived us into thinking we might find an impressive view, but once we rounded the last corner we found that they were only at the top, the rest of the wall completely bare. Oh well, we can at least say we hiked it! I’m pretty sure the only part of this park that we haven’t hiked to is Tonti Canyon, which has been closed for at least 2 years. It should be reopening this summer, so maybe if we return next year we’ll be able to finally be able see it!
The next day, Curtis slept for half the day, then we went out for a late lunch back to the Canal Visitor Center cafe in La Salle. After lunch, we drove over to North Utica, where we first stopped at the Starved Rock Country Visitor Center. Thanks to all our exploring and ‘checking in’ over our first two weeks here, we had already completed the “Flock to the Rock” challenge and came here to collect our prizes. We had a nice chat with the worker there, who gave us a hat and stuffed eagle toy as our rewards. It sounded like we were some of the first to reach this milestone of 15 locations visited!
Next, we set out on the I&M Canal Trail heading West out of Utica. We had just over 2 miles to reach Split Rock, where we had left off when hiking East from La Salle. This stretch of trail was so quiet and lovely, with high cliffs to the North and wetlands to the South. We made it back to Split Rock, then turned around and made our way back to Utica. Another 4.5 miles walked, another 2.25 miles down on our goal to hike from La Salle to Ottawa.
On Curtis’ next night off, we returned to the Ottawa I&M Canal Trail trailhead off of Boyce Memorial, and we walked the 2 miles to Lock 12. There were actually two different locks along this stretch of trail, which gave us something exciting to see along the way. Each time we walked the trail, the canal was a little less frozen, there was a little less snow and ice on the trail, and it was a little muddier and warmer. It made it feel like as we were progressing on our goal, winter was also progressing into spring. That made our time on the trails feel extra productive!
The next day, we returned for a third time to Bruce and Ollies in North Utica, though we made the mistake of forgetting that today was both Valentine’s Day, and the day of the town’s annual Wine Walk. The main road was shut down, people were everywhere, and parking was scarce. We still braved the crowds in the name of hot soup, a toasted sandwich, and delicious lattes. After that, we got out of town and drove to the I&M Canal trailhead right across the highway from Buffalo Rock State Park. Since we had more time on our hands, we headed West to close the gap between us and Utica. The first mile or so of the walk was marked by gunshots from the nearby shooting range…what a romantic activity for Valentine’s Day *eye roll*. At least once we got passed that, it was a peaceful and lovely walk. It ended up being a 3 mile walk back to the bridge where we left off last time, but we did it, and now we only had a one mile stretch to finish our goal, from lock 12 to the Buffalo Rock trailhead!
Since we only had 2 miles left to walk, it was easy to find an afternoon to fit that in. It was a beautiful day with highs in the 60s, and hardly any snow or ice left. We completed the stretch easily, making it back to the lock and taking a little time to relish our completed goal. Shortly after we arrived, the tornado test sirens went off, and they were echoed by a chorus of coyotes nearby. We had seen evidence of coyote activity throughout our walks, so it was satisfying to finally get to hear them! We returned to the car as the sun was setting. It felt about as perfect as an ending to our time here could be: We had completed our goal of walking the I&M Canal Trail from La Salle to the East side of Ottawa, and spring was here! Never mind the fact that it was still February, and the temps would in fact drop by 30 degrees the next day, and Curtis still had several nights of work left… Never mind all that, we could enjoy our accomplishment for tonight.
As excited as I am to have completed this goal, I can’t forget our dear Charlotte, who was there for our first 3 sections we had hiked together in Ottawa and La Salle over the years, as well as a few others further East. The sections she hiked with us bookend all that we had to complete on our own, and I know she would’ve been a willing participant in this goal.
Charlotte hiking the I&M Trail in La Salle, 2023
