About 3 weeks ago I took a trip on the eastern dupage river. Just now getting to the trip report!  It was perfect weather, 70s highs, lows in the 50s. Early enough to there were no bugs besides 2 clouds of gnats. I saw beavers, deer, a coyote, and tons of birds. It was awesome.

I went on a 16 mile trip over two days. I started off 75th street into the eastern branch (by Zero gravity and 75/53). I continued on to Riverside park in Plainfield, getting out just before Rt. 59. I did 10 miles on day 1, and 6 on day 2.  The river was flowing nicely, after some decent rains earlier in the week. I spend about 6 hours in the water to do the 10 mile leg on day 1, and that was with frequent bathroom, food, and portage breaks. Day 2 was 6 miles in about 3 hours. Although I took less breaks, I didn't paddle as hard.

Overall, it was a great trip. The eastern bit of the dupage river is quite shallow, but perfect for kayaking. I scrapped up plenty of times, but was able to slide over the mud and gravel fairly easily. Then again, it was early season, and the water level was higher than normal. Once you hit the east west merge around 95th street, the water level deepens. 

While you are passing through plenty of subdivisions and roads, it's a nice slice of nature in the backyard. It's not nearly remote as the lower fox or Illinois rivers, but it was much better than I would have guessed. There are thick trees covering you most of the time, so it's almost like a tunnel of nature, and gives you natural separation. 

Some important facts to note:

If you take the eastern branch around Whalon lake, there are some nasty portages because of BEAVER DAM blockage! There is another riverside park west of Whalon lake, so I'd recommend that as a starting point for this reason. While these aren't long portages, it's through thick grass covering fallen branches, and most of the banks are steep. I probably lost an hour trying to navigate, move, and rest after these tough portages. These beaver blocks did not show up in my satellite image research.

There are not many islands until after passing Naperville Plainfield road. It's also a lot more remote after the merger. Just plan of camping past that point, should you decide you want to go.

This river is not built for canoes. The water was so shallow at points, it would have been tough in a bigger boat. My kayak could slide over these shallower parts, but the tall sided canoe would have been tough to move. South of the merger it's better, but I don't know if I could recommend it still.

There are lots of eddies and lines. If you are paying attention and hit most of these eddies, you can start cruising with minimal paddling.

Overall, this trip went fairly smoothly, and was well worth it. The dupage river had it's challenges but it was

I spent another cool night on the fox river, at an island just south of "James Island." For this trip, I brought along my 11 year old cousin. Overall. the trip was smooth, water high, and few bugs on the island. This particular island has a second small island tucked closely, so it makes a nice lagoon in the middle. 

We did a simple 6 mile leg, starting from Hurds island in Aurora, and taking out in downtown Oswego. We had to portage around the dam in Montgomery. The portage is easy, less than a quarter mile. Just make sure you stay left as you come into the area, because right takes you close to the dam. You take out, go up and down a short hill, then dump back in the water. 

Now for the notes:
There is a park on the north east corner of 34/fox river in oswego.  It has NO overnight parking. However, on the other side of 34 (SE corner of road and river), there is a lot with no restrictions. I left my car overnight without issue there.

Bugs: There were very few bugs on the island, which was somewhat typical for late may. However, I made a run across the river after dusk for Gatorade... and there were clouds of gnats you wouldn't believe. Too dark for pictures, but it was just a consistent cloud forcing me to keep my head way down to prevent mouthfuls.

Low spots: This portion of the river is one of the lowest of it's length. Better for kayaking than canoeing. Not terrible though. I've seen worse areas on the dupage.

Here is a nice resource for trip planning purposes:

Water levels at every gauge, along the dams of the major illinois rivers. 
It allows you to see river depth and flow. This is an embeddable resource that I've actually attached to trip pages already. Feel free to customize charts to prepare for your trips!

The best feature is that it allows you to see river depths, to tell if it's super shallow in a dry season, or flooding after a major storm.