Illinoistocht

I uploaded a photo journey of the Hennepin canal trail on Flickr, which you can see on the "Bicycling" tab of this website.  I also uploaded a longer, more detailed set that surveys the locks, bridges, and sights on the Hennepin (for now you can find on the "Facts" tab; Ed.--the survey was moved to the "Canal Photos" sub-page of this website, under "Canal Information", above), to give an idea of what you would encounter on a bike trip or paddle journey (I have a lot of photos of the bridges and locks for the latter). 

On another note, there is still no easy way to connect from the Hennepin trail to the I&M trail by bike.   I didn't get any photos of the roads that connect the two but I did find a link about it on the "crazy guy on a bike" website .  The Kaskaskia Alliance Trail has been proposed to form a trail link between the Hennepin and I&M trails but at this point it is still in the planning stages and the only means to connect the two are busy roads with little or no shoulders in parts.