Summer Hike Along Otter Creek Trail Near South Elgin, Illinois

 

Otter Creek Trail provided us with a nice paved trail for exploration after some pretty intense storms in the area. After the storms, we were looking for drier trails and were hoping to skip out on mosquitoes. Otter Creek Trail near St. Charles offered us the perfect trail to wander under these parameters. We enjoyed hiking the trail and discovering nature around Otter Creek.

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See if you can spot the little goldfinch in the tall grasses around the pond.

Otter Creek Trail is a combined hiking/walking and bike trail hugging residential areas which are part of the Thornwood subdivision. However, portions are enveloped in woodlands, so you will get a bit of an escape. The surrounding preserve contains an amazing 165.4 acres.

Brilliant yellow coneflowers and purplish-pink bergamot herald summer
 along the Otter Creek Trail.

Jubilant Summer Flowers Awaited

Quickly, we observed the jubilant summer flowers of the Illinois prairie -- bergamot, coneflowers, compass flowers, daisy fleabane, and more. Of course, we started to scout for butterflies and saw both monarchs and swallowtails.

Otter Creek with its summer meander charms on along Otter Creek Trail.

Otter Creek meanders alongside the trail. We paused at a variety of points to observe the creek and look for wildlife. We did spot quite a few ducks savoring the summer day. For the most part, Otter Creek has a gentle flow which is peaceful.

Several ponds provide for additional wildlife viewing along the Otter Creek Trail.

The trail also passes near several ponds, providing some great wetland views as well. We spied an egret in one of the ponds which entirely made our day.

Joyful summer flowers along Otter Creek!

The trail is flat and pretty easy to walk. Otter Creek Trail is about 2.9 miles out and back -- so not a loop. The bike trail does connect to other regional trails including the Fox River Trail. The trail was perfect on a day that we were a bit wary of trail conditions. The trail is near Otter Creek Bend Park which offers another space to enjoy nature when in the area.