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Print Friendly MapProspect Heights has very few sidewalks, so biking, inline skating or walking are moved to the streets or in the parks. Don't underestimate the Prospect Heights Bike Path which is over four miles of asphalt with several areas of natural prairie habitat. It begins across the street from the Prospect Heights Metra station at Wolf and Camp McDonald Road and follows the Com Ed power line easement to Schoenbeck Road. You can add nearly two miles if you continue to Lake Arlington. Get outside and experience the off-road route through nature.
Park at Woodland Trails Park (1500 block of Euclid Avenue) or in the parking lot at the corner of Stonegate Drive and Schoenbeck Road near the basketball court.
I frequently walk my dog on this trail and am becoming increasingly disturbed by the need to dodge the droppings of other people's dogs because they refuse to pick up after them. Perhaps there needs to be better signage, more trash receptacles, or even a dog poop bag dispenser to encourage people to pick up after their pets. It's so gross! There is literal poop on the path and in the areas surrounding the path.
This trail is so bumpy I would not classify it as a bike trail.
Peaceful and quiet. Easy access. Terribly bumpy and really needs to be re-paved.
Good trail for walkers, runners, and bikers. Wore out other neighborhood routes so this was a nice surprise. Good number of people keeping appropriate distance.
The trail is mostly well paved. There's a section where somebody highlighted the pavement problems in yellow paint. Not sure if they mean to fix it or just warn. It is pretty flat and does cross several roads, but nothing too difficult (mid-day at least). Bridge at Palatine is nice. I did not notice buzzing from the power towers but at the ComEd station there was some. Did not seem like it was 4 miles long, but maybe that just means it was a pleasant ride. Probably not for the speedsters, but for senior citizens, very nice. Not obvious where it starts from the parking - go east toward Wolf Road, runs along is to start.
Pros:
-Relatively flat, a few minor crossings, and thankfully a bridge over Palatine Rd.
-Nice untouched easement with the electric lines overhead, some grassland restoration
-Usually not crowded
-Connection to Lake Arlington at the northwest terminus
Neutral:
-Very straight
Cons:
-You will constantly hear the power lines overhead
-You sort of ride five feet off of some people's backyards
-Southern terminus ends abruptly in a bad spot
I really wish the southern end connected to something like the Des Plaines River Trail or continued along the easement to High Ridge Knolls (a E-W easement trail) so you had some type of loop. Depending on your way home you may have to face a really messy crossing at Rand. I usually head South across Euclid and cut through the large industrial park where there is a protected pedestrian crossing across Rand.
It's a nice paved trail. Not busy. Uses powerline right of way so there's some nice prarie grasses and natural habitat you go through. A great length for after work ride. Careful though, it crosses two busy roads among some others.
Okay, so just to get something straight here, this path was originally laid out for service maintenance of the overhead power lines which align with the entire trail. For inline skaters, I'm ranking this path a 2 based on track quality (2 - pretty choppy), scenery (1 - unless you like the hum of overhead powe lines), crowdedness (3 - mainly bikers), and overall layout (2 - just a dogleg right).
Really nice trail. Paved. Connects to Lake Arlington at the West End of trail.
Pleasantly surprised with this trail.
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