Hike Hadley Valley Loop, 3.6 miles, and perhaps 1.4 mi more for 5 mi total

We'll walk around the Hadley Valley loop, which is 3.6 miles, then, for those that want some extra steps, we will cross Rt 6 and walk another 0.7 miles into Pilcher Park and back for a total of 5 miles.

We will park at the Hadley Valley Preserve in the Gougar Rd parking lot. Then we'll go around the loop in that preserve. For those who want to go further, we'll take a side detour into the north end of Pilcher Park for a total of about 5 miles.

The trail is wide, made of crushed stone, and mostly traverses grassland, but it's nice. There are not many hills, only gentle slopes. The weather is projected to be sunny, in the low 70s, with a very low chance of rain.

If you want to use GPS to get to the parking lot, you can use the house across the street, which is at 18311 Gougar Rd, Joliet, IL 60432

Here is the website for this preserve: https://www.reconnectwithnature.org/preserves-trails/preserves/hadley-valley/

Watch here in "comments" for updates if the weather turns out to be crummy.