Paddling near Elgin, IL

The Fox River runs straight through downtown Elgin, on the Kane/Cook county line, and it's the city's defining paddling water—slow and meandering, averaging 4–5 feet deep, dotted with sandbars and beginner-to-intermediate runs that the Forest Preserve District of Kane County and Elgin Parks & Recreation maintain together. Day trips fan out from here: the Fox Chain O'Lakes roughly 30 miles north, the Des Plaines River in Lake County to the northeast, and the IDNR Class A Kishwaukee River to the northwest.