In 2024 we kicked off a project in Oakwood with a lofty goal: create a space like those we have had the great fortune to stumble across in our trail adventures across the country.

Trails of the Grand Prairie remains committed to our ongoing advocacy and support of the Kickapoo Rail Trail, and all the communities it connects.

One of our strategic priorities this year has been to focus on building out our organizational foundation to better support future endeavors.

In Spring 2025, six students in the first year Master of Landscape Architecture program at the University of Illinois partnered with Trails of the Grand Prairie to reimagine the use of the Amenia for a trailhead along the Kickapoo Rail Trail.

In a fantastic development for us– two talented graduate students who participated in the Amenia trailhead design project secured full time summer internships from the University of Illinois to work on a trail design plan for selected corridors in Piatt County.

At our strategic planning retreat in early 2025 we identified trail segments between Monitocello and Cisco as a priority to work on this year.

We continue our efforts to restore native trees, grasses and forbs along the rail corridor.

In September of 2025 the Friends of the KRT received the deeds for two parcels of land in east Urbana, across Main Street from Weaver Park.