Stockyards in West Chicago

elgineddie · June 4, 2004

Hey there fellow Illini!

I used to go to the stockyards many moons ago in an old 79 Bronco with 44s and 12" of lift but after selling it, I've never been back. I know that place used to attrack the cops something fierce but there was a 'back' way in by the neighboring apartments off of Rt59. The last time I was there was back in the spring of 97.

Don't know if I'd take my nice Suburban out there (yes, I'm afriad!) but I would take my ATV and meet some of y'all. I can be the photoman!

Anyone been there since?

CMNTMXR81 · June 30, 2004

Yes and no.

Yes, they're still technically there. It is now privately owned property and the owner had the police ticketing people of they got caught. I used to take my ATV back there. However, the no side is because many subdivisions now back up to it and there really isn't any access to it except if you slide in off the E.J.E. tracks. Otherwise, there really isn't a way in unless you know a property owner along it that'll gladly let you in.

I tried a few months ago to go in a secret entrance behind a building in the industrial park, but they had put one of those concrete highway median barriers to block access.

Rookie · June 30, 2004

What are the stockyards???? I get out to Saint Charles a few times a year and i have never heard of the before.

elgineddie · June 30, 2004

The Stockyards are/were a place you could go to and four wheel to your hearts content. On any given saturday there would be a dozen rednecks (like me!) in Fords twisting their frames or a group of old gentlemen from a Land Rover club climbing stuff. There's be people on hourseback, ATVs and Moto-X bikes too. I used to head out there in a Jeep Cherokee with 3" lift, rear soft-locker and 31" BFGs after work just to have fun and relax. It was located near the intersection of Carolina Dr and Hawthorne Ln in West Chicago, IL and wasn't much more that 1/2 mile square. MapQuest shows it and you can see the railroad tracks running through the left side of it.

Some day I will try to sneak in there again to get a survey of what's new in there. If you go solo, you need a winch. After a good rain, you need 4x4 from the get go cuz it's sloppy! The one way I found to get it the easiest was thru the Kings Cross Rd apartments, drive to the rear-most section near where the dumpsters back up to the trees/weeds and look for a small entrance to what looks like an old set of railroad tracks that run west/east. They don't show up on mapquest except as a white line. You follow them west and you can drop right into the area.

I was asked to leave once by the police when I was playing hookie and fishing in one of their ponds. He read my license and saw that I lived in West Chicago at the time and told me he KNEW I knew I shouldn't be there.

For now, I don't wheel my truck anymore and just ride my ATV at an ATV park near Ottawa called www.foxvalleyoffroad.com (http://www.foxvalleyoffroad.com/foxinfo.html).

Sorry for the long post!

Ed

Rookie · June 30, 2004

Cool thanks, You dont take your Burb into the Fox River???

elgineddie · June 30, 2004

No, but I could! Even with all the rain, it's only a couple feet deep.

One VERY cool thing I just did was go online and found some satellite images of the stockyards dated from April 2002! I zoomed in and it looks like the back entrances are blocked with those cement barriers. BUT nothing I couldn't drag outta the way!!

Check out this link!

Hope it works for a while. You can zoom in/out and pan around!

Sat pix

CMNTMXR81 · July 1, 2004

My family has lived here in West Chicano my entire life and I've been here the last 14 years. I have very fond memories of the Stockyards. We used to take out S-10 Blazer's back there all the time. Then I got tired of damaging my expensive daily driver, wised up and bought an ATV that I could beat the snot of instead and had an absolute blast back there. I cam home many an afternoon covered in mud from flying over the bars and stuff.

Unfortunately, pretty much all back ways including down the old train bed from the Illinois Central has been shut off due to subdivisions and even a few more going in now along 59. Going in along the E.J.E. tracks can be risky because the Union Pacific has trackage rights and usually has north/south coal trains (or those awaiting to be routed east/west) sitting in their staging and they'll call in unless you have U.P or E.J.E. markings on your vehicle in this high security world we now live in.

It's sad, because I remember when all those factories were all tucked away back there and Hawthorne Lane was solely used by the trucks going in and out. Now it's become a main route. It's also not to far from my favorite little personal data logging drag strip when I need to log. But that's another story.

BTW, I live not too far from there, just SW of Reed Keppler park.