Glen Carbon, IL

Glen Carbon is a Madison County village in the Metro East region of Illinois, near Edwardsville and St. Louis. Its Heritage Bike Trail became one of the country's early rails-to-trails projects in 1992, and the Nickel Plate Bike Trail adds another recreation corridor. The Yanda Log Cabin, connected to the Heritage Museum, preserves a piece of local settlement history. Glen Carbon feels like a comfortable St. Louis-area suburb with older coal and rail roots still visible beneath the parks, trails, and subdivisions.