Chicago Transit Hikes: Exploring Forests, Dunes, and Hidden Nature by Train скачать в хорошем качестве

Chicago Transit Hikes: Exploring Forests, Dunes, and Hidden Nature by Train

   • STORIES FROM THE 78      / @storiesfromthe78   Chicago has always sold itself in steel and glass. The skyline rises, the river bends, the trains rattle on. But just beyond the clatter of the L and the low hum of Metra platforms, something softer begins to take shape: dunes that roll like quiet punctuation marks, wetlands breathing between rails, forests that seem improbable given their proximity to rush-hour traffic. In a wide-ranging conversation, Tom Barnas and author Lindsay Welbers pull back the curtain on this other Chicago, one measured not in blocks but in trailheads. Welbers, whose explorations began as a personal attempt to reconnect with nature without leaving the city behind, has spent years mapping the green arteries that run parallel to Chicagoland’s transit system. The result is Chicago Transit Hikes, a guide that feels less like a hiking manual and more like a permission slip to wander. Illinois, she reminds us, is far from flat in spirit. Its landscapes shift from oak savannas to prairies, from Lake Michigan dunes to quiet forest preserves that rank among the largest urban systems in the country. Many of these spaces remain overlooked, hidden in plain sight, accessible not by car but by train ticket. What distinguishes Welbers’s work is its practicality. The book is slim enough to slide into a backpack, organized by rail line rather than region, and built for people who think in stops and schedules. Each hike comes with train-to-trailhead instructions, accessibility notes, dog-friendliness, seasonal highlights, and even guidance on what flora and fauna might be watching you pass through. There’s history here, too. Old campgrounds like Dunewood, a favorite of Welbers’s, carry the echoes of early conservation movements and rail-era leisure travel, when Chicagoans routinely escaped the city by train in search of fresh air. These stories add texture, grounding each hike in something older than the rails themselves. Public transportation, often framed as a means of commuting, becomes a quiet act of environmental engagement. It lowers the barrier to outdoor access, reshapes how residents think about their surroundings, and subtly redefines Chicago’s reputation. This is not a city divorced from nature, but one threaded through it. As the conversation turns toward the future of Chicago Transit Hikes, one idea lingers: exploration changes perception. Step off the platform, follow the trail, and the city you thought you knew gives way to something wilder, calmer, and unexpectedly close. ==================================================================== Email Stories from the 78: storiesfromthe78@gmail.com Brand Deal Inquiries: tombarnaschicago@Gmail.com ==================================================================== Associated channel for front stoop conversations    / @frontstooptombarnas:   ==================================================================== COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER UNDER SECTION 107 OF THE COPYRIGHT ACT 1976 Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. #storiesfromthe78 ==================================================================== Find more videos at www.storiesformthe78.com #CHOOSECHICAGO #DO312 #WGN #ChicagoNature #ChicagoHiking #UrbanExploration #TransitHikes #HiddenChicago #IllinoisOutdoors #CarFreeTravel #MidwestNature #ExploreChicago #SustainableTravel