A good road to take west to the river is Fabyan Parkway, where there are parking facilities at the Fabyan Forest Preserve. It's a nice staging area to start a run north or south, on either side of the river. The most popular and most heavily traveled area of the trail is between Wilson Street in Batavia and Route 64 in St. Charles. Pottawattamie Park in St. Charles is right on the river and a beautiful area. Starting at the park in St. Charles and down to Aurora on the river is the Great American Canoe Race, held each year in June.
People can try different areas along the trail.
The area south of St. Charles is relatively flat. North of St. Charles the trail has rolling hills up to South Elgin. This is also a very pretty area. If you drive to the trail from the north, take 1-90, and take Route 25 south to Elgin. Route 25 runs along the east side of the river, and Route 31 along the west side.