Illinois · Hiking

Purple Primitive Trail

0.6 mi
one way
10 ft
climb
761 ft
high point
Point to point
route
Apr, Jun
best months

The Purple Primitive Trail is a short, easy hike of about 0.6 miles on Regional Agency Land within the Orland Grassland Land and Water Reserve in Illinois. The route is a point-to-point walk with a total elevation gain of about 10 feet, so it's a flat, low-effort outing. Spring and fall are the most comfortable times to go. Typical averages from a nearby weather station show May highs around 73°F and October highs around 65°F, while July averages about 90°F. Bikes are allowed on this trail, but horses are not. The Orange Primitive Trail starts just 0.1 mile away, and the Yellow Primitive Loop and Tan Primitive Trail are within a mile. The Yellow Paved Loop is about 1.8 miles off.

  • Best time to go · Apr, Jun

    Best time to visit Purple Primitive Trail

    Best months: April, June and September–October. Best months have typical highs of 55–85 °F, lows of 30 °F or warmer (32 °F where the station doesn't record snow), at most one snowy day and no more than 12 wet days.

    1. Jan

      33° / 15°

      10 wet

    2. Feb

      37° / 18°

      9 wet

    3. Mar

      49° / 28°

      10 wet

    4. Apr

      62° / 39°

      12 wet

    5. May

      73° / 50°

      13 wet

    6. Jun

      84° / 60°

      12 wet

    7. Jul

      90° / 64°

      11 wet

    8. Aug

      87° / 63°

      10 wet

    9. Sep

      80° / 55°

      9 wet

    10. Oct

      65° / 43°

      10 wet

    11. Nov

      50° / 31°

      9 wet

    12. Dec

      38° / 21°

      10 wet

    Typical high / low (°F) and days with rain or snow, 1991–2020. Measured at Little Red School Hse, IL, 8.7 mi away at 715 ft. This station doesn't record snowfall. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020.

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Main TrailPhoto: Joe K Gage, CC BY-SA 2.0 (via Flickr)

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Tan TrailPhoto: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

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Purple TrailPhoto: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

Purple Trail

~11 min drive

0.39-mile point-to-point trail in Illinois with 1 ft gain and 103 ft loss.

HIKE

Red Paved Trail

~16 min drive

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Map and trail data © OpenStreetMap contributors