Riverside Park & Cemetery (Moline, IL)
This cemetery shall forever be known as “The One Where I Saw a Coyote”. But before I get to that, I’ll give you the official deets. Riverside Cemetery is another beautiful, historic cemetery in the QCA. There is a 4 mile loop from my house that I like to walk and it includes entering the cemetery from the southwest corner, which has a sweeping view of the cemetery and the river. Other times I drive here with friends and make a 2-4 mile loop while we do some catching up.
When to go
Anytime, really, but here’s what you can expect in different seasons.
December - February
Don’t write off winter walks! I especially love a full moon walk in winter, and Riverside makes a great location for it.
March - April
When trails are muddy, it’s important to stay off of them, so it’s a great time to walk in a paved cemetery.
May - August
This is a great time to walk Riverside and tack on a walk over to the gardens to see lots of beautiful flowers blooming. And/or hop across 5th avenue and check out the pond.
September - November
I love to go to the cemetery around spooky season, when it feels perfectly appropriate to be there. October is also the month that I saw a coyote in the cemetery! I was making my way down from atop the southeastern bluff one afternoon when I saw a large dog in front of me. If you know me at all, you probably know that my #1 fear about hiking/walking anywhere is off leash dogs.
I looked around for the owners and tried to stay calm. And then I realized I was alone in the cemetery. There were no owners, and this was no dog. I tried to convince myself that it was just the fox I’ve seen roaming around this area, but it was way too big to be a fox. I noted the long snout, the pointy ears, and the lankiness of the animal.
It was maybe 30 yards ahead of me and it turned around a couple of times to look right at me. I thought about turning around or stopping, but didn’t want to do anything that would make me seem like prey either. So I kept my same pace but started to veer the opposite direction the coyote was taking. I wanted to send the message that I wasn’t going to bother it, but I wasn’t prey either. And I think it worked because it found a cozy spot under a tree and laid down!
I know we have coyotes in the more rural cities of the QCA, but it’s unusual to see a coyote in town, and especially during the day. I have to say it was pretty cool to see. If you want to know more about coyote behavior and how to avoid conflict, I recommend checking out this .
