DuPage River Trail & Water Trail
for an interactive map of the DuPage River Waterway Trails.
The DuPage River is a small-to-medium sized stream flowing north to south through DuPage and Will counties and ending at its confluence with the Des Plaines River in Channahon.
The DuPage consists of east and west branches which meet south of Naperville. Together, they make up eighty-four miles of waterway that drain a watershed of 326 square miles.
The East Branch is largely channelized, and the West Branch is mostly natural and meandering. Scenery along its East and West branches is mostly suburban with low grassy banks, while the DuPage mainstem is mostly rural. The lower part of the West Branch has several developed canoe launch sites. However, both branches are shallow in their upper stretches and occasionally difficult to paddle due to low water in the summer months.
The upper stretches of both branches run through residential neighborhoods. The upper East Branch resembles a channelized drainage ditch more than a potential recreational resource. Therefore, the upper sections of both branches are not recommended as water trails.