Put-In Parking Directions: Bemis Woods, owned by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, is located on the west side of Wolf Road, approximately 0.4 miles south of 31st Street, in Westchester.
Take-Out: Brookfield canoe launch, owned by the Village of Brookfield, is located just north of Brookfield Avenue and east of Forest Avenue, behind the Brookfield Village Hall.
Hazards:
- Approximately .25 mile downstream of the Wolf Road bridge are the remnants of an old dam passable only through the middle of the stream. Low water or debris pile-ups may require portaging.
- Approximately 0.4 mile downstream of the 31st Street Bridge is the Possum Hollow Dam. This low dam is visible only in low water conditions. Paddle through the canoe chute on the river right side of the dam.
- Approximately 0.9 mile after passing under the Maple Avenue bridge, there is a water diversion pipe, which diverts water to the Des Plaines River during high water events. Avoid the diversion area by staying river right.
- Downstream of the second 31st Street bridge, there are two low bridge crossings associated with Brookfield Zoo. During high water events, passing beneath these bridges may be restricted. Portaging may be required.
Notes: This trip is a shorter version of the Dean Nature Sanctuary to Plank Road Meadow. It follows one of the oldest greenways in the country, passing through forest preserves, parks, and the Brookfield Zoo, although there is no public access to the zoo from the creek.
Please respect the privacy of riparian landowners—no landing on private property.
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Trip Report — Bemis Woods to Brookfield Canoe Launch (August 3, 2026)
Paddled this 8-mile stretch of the Salt Creek Water Trail solo by kayak on a near-perfect summer day: sunny with partly cloudy skies and comfortable temperatures throughout. The USGS monitor at Western Springs read 386 cfs with a gage height of 3.58 ft at the time of launch. The water was quick-moving and never low; hardly any scraping the entire way. Put in at Bemis Woods at 10:10 a.m. and took out at the Brookfield Village Hall launch at 12:55 p.m.
Through Salt Creek Woods Nature Preserve I passed a couple of strainers, all easily navigable. I stopped for lunch around 11:30 at Brezina Woods — directly after the small rapids near Grove 3, hold river right for a very good landing spot. (A few folks were setting up a charcoal grill along the creek as I was wrapping up, cool location for that and shallow entry to water.)
Below 26th Street Woods, the strainers picked up in both number and difficulty, though I was able to pass under or through each of them with care. The trickiest stretch was south of the Brookfield diversion structure and north of the zoo. The underpasses at the 31st Street and LaGrange Road bridges had large debris blockages, but both were passable along the right side of the underpass.
Wildlife was mostly birds this time out. I spotted what I believe was an eagle early on, along with several great blue herons, a great egret, and the usual cardinals and a blue jay.
Overall a fantastic paddle at this flow level — moving water, minimal scraping, and manageable obstacles for an attentive paddler.