Find the top rated horseback riding trails in Illinois, whether you're looking for an easy short horseback riding trail or a long horseback riding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a horseback riding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
I walked the whole trail this past Saturday, starting in Toulon and heading south(ish) to Peoria. From a pedestrian perspective, this is two distinct trails.
From Toulon to Alta is a crushed limestone rail trail which runs mostly through farmland. Large portions of it pass through a beautiful tunnel of trees. Each town involves a short road walk, which offer good options for snacks etc. I'd certainly walk this 25 miles again.
From Alta to the waterfront in Peoria is a paved interurban trail that spends lots of time in suburban back yards. If you like miles of fences, apartments, etc, this section is for you. The trail is signed in this section, but I still found myself referring to a GPS map to make sure I was on track. The last several miles (heading south) are relatively steeply downhill to the waterfront. I would not walk this section again.
This is a really great trail to run on. It is very soft, especially the stretch just east of Gougar. There is a lot of really beautiful scenery. I ran the entire trail today and it was exactly 7 miles. This is not a good place to ride a bike unless you enjoy riding a soft soggy trail. There are horses on this trail so be sure to keep dogs on a leash. Just as side note, there are two dogs that run around loose from a local house. But they are totally friendly. They have run up to me twice now. They’re just tail wagers. and sniffers.
We rode this trail yesterday. We started at the Galena Recreation Park and rode the trail and then continued on the road to the foot of Chestnut Ski Hill. (Round trip 20 miles) It’s a very scenic ride along the river with the bluffs. I’m sure it will be even more beautiful in the summer when everything is green. Can’t wait to go back!
The trail surface is smooth asphalt. Except for the first and last miles, it is also essentially seamless. Great.
The scenery is pretty much nothing, and there isn't really anything along the way. The eastern portion is more scenic than the western, passing over a couple ravines of tributaries to the Embarras river.
Great trail for a workout.
It’s a short path that went quicker than expected on rollerblades. Still a nice path to explore, well maintained for the most part. I started at Doty Park (and I did not find a skate park as mentioned in the description, that was a bummer) and continued all the way to its end (a little past Boone County Conservation District) and then headed back again. Checking out all the little forks helped me to rack up around 8 miles round trip.
Announced last week is the closure of the 127th St. bridge which is located just east of CalSag Road. This will take place from March to December, 2024. Or in other words, the whole biking season for 2024. The repair of the intersection at 127th and CalSag road was completed in late 2023.
The Green Bay trail is nicely maintained but as others have mentioned the signs for how to keep the trail when going through residential areas is confusing. We found ourselves at one point randomly biking through Highland Park.
Rode from Harrisburg to Karnak and back today. Great trail. A little wash out about 10 miles north of large tunnel. Not much on trail. Bathrooms at Harrisburg locked. Saw very few riders. A few walkers. One guy on an electric bike with a rifle.
Started at Chatham after I found end of trail. There are a few bumps especially around Chatham. There are a few areas that have been patched and are smooth. The trail is closed for now when you go under road near Scheels for construction. The bike manager at Scheels told me the trail was open farther on. Will come back and finish it another time.
We just returned from our week-end-a day early. Yes chilly weather was a factor but even more to the point, the trail was a Huge disappointment. We had decided to drive to south end and eye the conditions that rec'd mostly negative comments. We never even unloaded our bikes! The trail is basically not maintained, often runs right along OR on the highway for the majority of its 62 miles. The straight, unimaginative paths are not only boring but neglected to the pt of being dangerous - often far from the Mississippi River. Where did trail get it's name from?! Illinois once again leaves the user in the dust - or should I say weeds. We were left w/ a very negative impression, leading to our distrust of both the IL trail system as well as Rails to Trails reviews. It was obvious this trail was quickly laid out to meet some timeline set by a non-biking administrators. We counted two (!) people using trail in over the 60+ miles we covered from car. THAT should say it all!
We feel strongly that reviewers on Trail Link need to be more direct with readers. Polite and tolerant reviews are as much a disservice to the bikers as the abominable trail itself!
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