We like to hike: Four lesser-known trails in East Central Illinois

Whenever the flat farmland of Champaign County has me longing for a visual respite, I head east. Not to the well-used Kickapoo State Park but to less-traveled places that are rich in natural habitats.

Those destinations, Kennekuk Cove County Park and Forest Glen Nature Preserve, are part of the Vermilion River system in the easternmost part of the state, on the edge of what was once the Grand Prairie to the west.

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