Bloomingdale Trail
Urban hiking on abandoned railway in the centre of Chicago.
In Chicago’s Bucktown/Wicker Park area, an abandoned elevated railway allows an unusual urban hiking experience on a three mile green-way.
Slated to become an official city park, currently it is untended and has all the charms of an abandoned railway. What makes it unique is it’s position running through and over the historic Bucktown neighborhood. Hikers who go through the trouble of accessing the trail’s partly concealed entrances (see directions, and web links to map) will share overhead urban views with only a few of Chicago’s more intrepid joggers and dog walkers.
Daytime jaunts are recommended as the night-time the tracks become a favorite spot of local teenagers to go drinking, and various glass bottle smashers, who have left their detritus along the way.
The easternmost entrance is at Ashland. You cannot go further east due to a fence across the greenway. The park extends West for three miles with no traffic crossings, entirely elevated and strangely isolated from the daily bustle.
Read more about Bloomingdale Trail on Atlas Obscura…
Category: Architectural Oddities
Location: Chicago, Illinois, US
Edited by: mojotexas, Dylan, Trevor