Home | Black Hawk Trail Hike
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The Black Hawk Trail Hike is an 18.2-mile round trip hike from Camp Lowden to
Lorado Taft’s “Black Hawk Statue” in Lowden State Park. The hike both starts and ends at Camp Lowden. The trail between Camp Lowden and
Daysville crosses land that belongs to the family of former Illinois Governor Lowden.
It is alleged that the trail was walked by members of the Stillman campaign during the Black Hawk War, by Sauk and Fox
Indians, and even by Abraham Lincoln. As many as 300 Scouts in one day have taken the trail.
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One record shows that the trail was started by Dwaine Murphy in 1941; other records show that it was established somewhere
around 1942. Bill Peterson was at Camp Lowden in 1941-1942 and was one of the first to hike the Black Hawk Trail.
The trail was very popular and troops came from near and far to hike it. The beginning of the trail was at the southwest
corner of the parking lot, down Backbone Ridge (one of the trails that leads to the waterfront), and then north along the
river through Daysville, and then on to the Black Hawk Statue.
Ray Gierhart states that the original
philosophy was to jog for 40 paces, walk for 40 paces, etc. Once you reached the statue, you had to take a compass reading
and there was a symbol at the base of a tree. This was to prove that you were there.
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The medals and patches were highly sought after.
The first medal had the American Legion emblem (rather than the fleur-de-lis) because the Legion gave them out. The next
medals were a heavy lead back with a bronze face, the lead being engraved with the hiker’s name and date.
Ray recalls that when the river was more navigable, owners were not allowed to fence down to the water and they had to stay
10 to 15 feet from the water’s edge. In later years the owners were given the right to fence off to the water line, which
also blocked part of the Black Hawk Trail. Therefore the original trail was redesigned, and once you got to the railroad
tracks you had to go up to the blacktop and take the blacktop into Oregon. The trail became more of a blacktop route than
actually enjoying Mother Nature.
Snuffy Whitaker recalls,
We did a lot of camping and exciting things in Troop 8. In 1947, we took the Black Hawk Trail hike. At that time there
was no state park at the Black Hawk Statue and there was no door at the base of the statue. There were steps that went
down into the base. Down inside there was a large steel cable that hung down from the top of the head of the statue; it
was about four feet from the base floor. You could climb up the cable to the top of the head and look out the eyes. The
eyes were about half the size of a football and you could see for miles on the west side of the river. In later years it
became a state park and they put a door on the base of the statue.
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Ken Merwin recalls that the drug store in
Oregon used to have picture cards of the Black Hawk Statue that showed Lowden staff members in the foreground. The photo
was taken in 1954 by a company that was doing postcards of things around Oregon.
Pictured (l-r) were Ed McKeown, Wayne Torgeson, and an unknown Explorer.
On the right: Ted Kjellstrom and Ken Merwin.
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In later years the trail became in disrepair, had high weeds, poison ivy, etc., and the trail became impassable. The
landowners blamed Scouts for vandalism, but that could have occurred along the river from just about anybody. In the late
1970s an ad was placed in the council newsletter for help in rehabbing the trail. More than 85 Scouts and leaders showed
up to help. Under the guidance of
Ranger Bob Ford and
Ray Gierhart,
the volunteers marked it, built a 30-foot bridge, cut weeds, removed downed trees, and basically
put the Black Hawk Trail back into service. The trail reopened as of
October 1, 1979.
However, due to issues regarding property boundaries, routing of the trail, and upkeep, the Black Hawk Trail was closed
indefinitely in 2004.
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*(The name of the American Indian chief was two words—Black Hawk. Our council name uses one word.
The Illinois State Travel Guide, p.112, says “Lorado Taft’s 48-foot-tall Black Hawk statue.”
Other sources confirm this. Therefore, references to the chief, the statue, and the trail are
correctly spelled as two words despite the fact that the trail hike patches over the years have
used both variations.)
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