Explore the best rated trails in Bolingbrook, IL. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Illinois & Michigan Canal State Trail and ComEd Greenway. With more than 108 trails covering 4743 miles you’re bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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The Salt Creek Trail travels nearly 27 miles from the Brookfield Zoo to Busse Woods Forest Preserve. Along the way it connects several beautiful county forest preserves and other woodland...
The Illinois Prairie Path (IPP) was one of the nation’s first rail-trail conversions. It consists of five connected trail segments with three main branches that converge at Volunteer Park (West...
The Lincolnwood Valley Line Trail connects the existing Valley Line Trail (Sauganash Trail) to the Skokie Valley Trail in Cook County. Like the previous segments, this trail occupies a former Union...
Closure Notice: As of April 2021, the portion of the bike path on the Route 176 bridge over the Des Plaines River is closed for bridge repairs. Trail users can follow posted detour signage via the Des...
The Erie Lackawanna Trail connects Crown Point and Hammond, two former rail junctions whose early fortunes were tied to the tracks carrying people and goods to and from Chicago. Despite traveling...
The Robert McClory Bike Path runs the length of Lake County, knitting together a string of communities on the north shore of Chicago all the way to the Wisconsin border. In 1997, the trail was named...
Turkey Creek Trail is a short but sweet walk or ride through the beautiful Ivan Gatlin Nature Preserve in the northwestern Indiana community of Schererville. This wetland area provides the opportunity...
Lake Renwick Preserve is home to an artificial lake of the same name that was created from former quarries where aggregates for concrete were once mined. Today, the lake is a recreational amenity in...
The Joliet Junction Trail is a paved path that travels north–south through the west side of Joliet. It occupies an abandoned Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway corridor that in its last years was known...
The Tall Grass Greenway Trail is a trail that runs along the right of way for ComEd powerlines. The trail goes mainly through neighborhoods in south Naperville, and meets up with the south branch of...
The Orland Park Bikeway provides a great connector across the Chicago suburb of Orland Park. On its southern end, the trail begins at W. 159th Street and winds its way through Centennial Park, which...
The Major Taylor Trail is named after legendary African American cyclist Marshall “Major” Taylor, who was one of the most celebrated bicycle racers of the late nineteenth century, setting several...
The Oswego Prairie Trail is a short paved route that occupies an overhead electric utility corridor owned by Commonwealth Edison. The path forms a direct link between two parks in Oswego—Farmington...
The DeKalb Nature Trail provides a pleasant, tree-lined route in northern DeKalb. Near its western trailhead, it crosses the Kishwaukee River and passes through the Nehring Forest Preserve. Further...
The Kuhn Road Trail starts on Lies Road, at Glenbard North High School and continues south along Kuhn Road, past single-family homes and Friendship Park. The trail officially ends at Barbara O'Rahilly...
The Randall Road Bike Trail offers a 4-mile paved north-south route along its namesake roadway in a suburb west of Chicago. A highlight of the journey is the trail's passage through the LeRoy Oakes...
The DeKalb-Sycamore Trail—also known as the Peace Road Trail—parallels the eastern side of Peace Road from DeKalb to Sycamore in northern Illinois. Along the way, you'll pass a mixture of residential...
Prospect 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...
El Paseo runs through the vibrant Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen, once home to a large Czech population but now the center of the Lower West Side’s Latino community. The neighborhood is filled with...
About an hour northwest of Chicago, the beautiful Grant Woods Forest Preserve spans more than 1,000 acres, offering an outdoor respite of prairie, woodlands and marshes. The crushed limestone pathway...
The Palos Heights Bike Trail offers a north-south route through residential and commercial areas on the west side of the community. It's also a key connector between two regionally important...
The Pennsy Greenway stretches between Calumet City, Illinois, and Schererville, Indiana. The trail begins at the southern end of the Burnham Greenway on the eastern edge of the Forest Preserve...
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The Fort Beggs Bike Trail (North) is a nearly mile-and-a-half long trail in Plainfield, Illinois. The trail shares the electric utility right-of-way, stretching from Fort Beggs Drive south to Spring...
Note: This developing route is not yet fully contiguous – it is just over 50% complete. Please refer to the Trail Map for more information on the existing sections of trail, as well as the online...
The Joliet Junction Trail is a paved path that travels north–south through the west side of Joliet. It occupies an abandoned Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway corridor that in its last years was known...
The Virgil L. Gilman Trail travels from quiet forest and prairie lands to bustling neighborhoods in just 11 miles, linking a woodsy community college campus with the eastern Chicago suburb of...
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The eastern segment of the Great Western Trail in Illinois follows 12 miles of an abandoned railway corridor through DuPage County, between Villa Park and West Chicago. There are plans to extend the...
The Commonwealth Edison Bikeway is a short paved trail that occupies an overhead electric utility corridor owned by Commonwealth Edison, the local utility company—hence the trail's name. While lacking...
The Lily Cache Greenway travels east-west across Bollingbrook, from the ComEd Greenway to the Plainfield border. The trail more or less follows the course of its namesake creek, and is characterized...
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The Prairie Trail runs the length of McHenry County and is managed by the McHenry County Conservation District. The rail-trail spans just over 26 miles from the Wisconsin border and the farms and...
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The 4.4-mile River Bend Trail is so named for the loop of Fox River along which it follows on its eastern end. It's here that you can connect to the scenic Fox River Trail to travel 43 miles along the...
The Burnham Greenway is composed of two distinct portions that both run along a former railroad corridor between Chicago and Lansing, Illinois. There are plans to extend and connect these short...
The popular Rock Run Greenway Trail is a balanced mix of natural areas and cityscapes that alternate over the length of the trail. The natural areas are frequented by recreational users. The...
El Paseo runs through the vibrant Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen, once home to a large Czech population but now the center of the Lower West Side’s Latino community. The neighborhood is filled with...
The North Branch Riverwalk is a 0.6 mile biking and walking trail located on Chicago's northside along the North Branch of the Chicago River, nestled between Gordon Tech High School and Lane Tech High...
The Prairie Point Trail is a scenic neighborhood route that connects twice to the longer Grove Road Trail. While never far from houses, the trail offers surprising scenery, including a stretch along a...
The Middlefork Savanna Forest Preserve is a natural gem hidden in an high-income neighborhood of Lake Forest, Illinois. Those 600 acres are home to perhaps the best-preserved example of the rare...
The Stearns Road Bike Path is a dedicated sidepath traveling from Hanover Park to the Bartlett, in the Chicago suburbs. The asphalt path sits on the north side of Greenbrook Boulevard/ Stearns Road,...
The trail system in Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve makes a loop around the entire park. The preserve is geologically significant, featuring glacier-carved rock ridges, ravines and wetland potholes,...
The Salt Creek Trail travels nearly 27 miles from the Brookfield Zoo to Busse Woods Forest Preserve. Along the way it connects several beautiful county forest preserves and other woodland...
El Paseo runs through the vibrant Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen, once home to a large Czech population but now the center of the Lower West Side’s Latino community. The neighborhood is filled with...
The Fermilab Trail garners its name by running though the campus of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), the former home of the Tevatron particle accelerator. The 3.9-mile particle...
Lake Renwick Preserve is home to an artificial lake of the same name that was created from former quarries where aggregates for concrete were once mined. Today, the lake is a recreational amenity in...
The Union Pacific Recreation Path offers a short route through the Village of Lincolnwood's east side between Devon and Touhy avenues. Following the former Union Pacific Railroad, the rail-trail...
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The western segment of the Great Western Trail in Illinois follows 17 miles of a former railway corridor through DeKalb and Kane counties, between LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve and the town of Sycamore....
The Stearns Road Bike Path is a dedicated sidepath traveling from Hanover Park to the Bartlett, in the Chicago suburbs. The asphalt path sits on the north side of Greenbrook Boulevard/ Stearns Road,...
The Virgil L. Gilman Trail travels from quiet forest and prairie lands to bustling neighborhoods in just 11 miles, linking a woodsy community college campus with the eastern Chicago suburb of...
The H.U.M. Trail (a.k.a. the Huntley-Union-Marengo Trail) was planned to link all three of its namesake northern Illinois towns, but so far only connects Marengo and Union. Interestingly, the...
The Bartlett Trail is a recreational trail in the Village of Bartlett, Du Page county. Though short, the trail is conveniently located as a space for exercise, while providing a safe route to school...
The Ottawa Riverwalk runs directly beside the beautiful Fox River, just north of its confluence with the larger Illinois River. It's a tranquil walkway with river views along its entire length. To...
The Prairie Point Trail is a scenic neighborhood route that connects twice to the longer Grove Road Trail. While never far from houses, the trail offers surprising scenery, including a stretch along a...
The Southern Dupage County Regional Trail connects multiple of the larger forest preserves in Dupage county together. Starting near the intersection of 75th st and Ogden Ave in Aurora, the trail runs...
The Erie Lackawanna Trail connects Crown Point and Hammond, two former rail junctions whose early fortunes were tied to the tracks carrying people and goods to and from Chicago. Despite traveling...
The Cal-Sag Trail (or, Calumet-Sag Trail) is currently under active construction. It currently has a competed section of over 15 miles, stretching from near its western terminus at the John Husar I&M...
The DeKalb-Sycamore Trail—also known as the Peace Road Trail—parallels the eastern side of Peace Road from DeKalb to Sycamore in northern Illinois. Along the way, you'll pass a mixture of residential...
Note: Erosion caused by surging waves off Lake Michigan has caused the trail to collapse in sections. The eastern half of the trail along Lake Michigan is closed indefinitely. See the Chicago Park...
This shared-use path runs east-west through the village of Carol Stream in Du Page county. Sitting on the grassy north side of Lies Road between Fair Oaks Road and Gary Avenue, the path is used as an...
The Oswego Prairie Trail is a short paved route that occupies an overhead electric utility corridor owned by Commonwealth Edison. The path forms a direct link between two parks in Oswego—Farmington...
About an hour northwest of Chicago, the beautiful Grant Woods Forest Preserve spans more than 1,000 acres, offering an outdoor respite of prairie, woodlands and marshes. The crushed limestone pathway...
The Hickory Creek Bikeway offers nearly 4 miles of paved pathway through a wooded preserve. On its western end, the trail begins at Hickory Creek Barrens Nature Preserve and Lincolnway Road; on the...
I have been driving past the perimeters of this preserve for years! FINALLY went in and loved it…. Nice hills, bridges, small lakes, and a large prairie. I highly recommend!
It's small and kind of gravelly, so use a mountain bike or hybrid. But it's a great little trail - not too long for the kids and gorgeous scenery!
Rode north one day and south the next. They have many places for repairs along the way, which was good, as I needed a tire replaced.
Great trail. Great views.
Easy for those not used to hills.
You can make about a 5 mile loop out of the trail by using some of the connected trails. Takes you through some wooded areas and has some smooth gravel areas as well. I liked that it had some small hills to make it a bit more challenging.
What an amazing experience Hope and I had! Was able to jump off the trail and be hosted at a nearby barn mid-way back to homebase (my Barn in Carol Stream) located ON the path. Awesome scenery rolling by and big thank you to the cyclists who were so kind to my horses as they went on their merry way. I recommend this to anyone. My horse wears a diaper bag to take care of any piles for consideration of other users. Truly a joyful experience that took two days travel. This is the second time I have done this by horse. The portion from Carol Stream to Villa park is equally horse friendly (I did that stretch under saddle) and is one days ride there and back to my home base. I can't thank the RTT enough for this amazing system in our area that makes horse travel amazing and feel like I'm in the middle of serenity...with urban amenities close at hand. http://buffalomoonexpedition.blogspot.com. Tomorrow we continue up to South Elgin and I'll be back to review that section when we complete it in about another 4 days travel time.
I started in Wheaton and rode to South Elgin, and it turned out to be the longest bike ride I have ever taken at 14.4 miles one way! It is a very easy ride and the elevation changes are for the most part subtle. The trail itself is by my standard very well maintained, and it was nice to ride on around 3 miles of paved trail after crossing Stearns/ Route 25. If you like to be alone, there are long LONG stretches of just you and the path. With that in mind, it would be advisable to carry a bicycle pump or tire patches. Be observant of horse apples and in the Autumn, walnuts. My goodness, there is a lot walnut trees lining that path.
This trail is so bumpy I would not classify it as a bike trail.
Perfect weather. Not crowded, but it was a Thursday. Nice trail. Will ride again.
Explored this trail, and it’s really good with lot of forest area and greenery. The paved road through the entire ride is a big plus for the trail. And the loop is a plus as well. We don’t feel like going straight and getting back.
I won’t repeat all of the good reviewers before me, but will emphasize that if you are biking the trail that you should get there early before it gets really busy. The loop makes for a good 1 hour ride and a wonderful place to take your dog, family and friends for a stroll. Enjoy!
This is a solid low pressure multi-use trail that is in good shape. It provides the rider with some Urban, Suburban, Industrial and Country scenery. There are numerous parking lots for easy access to the trail. You will enjoy riding past golf courses, wetlands, BlackBerry Farm and taking a lap around the Waubonsee Valley Community College Campus. There are a number of roads to cross on the east side of the Fox river, so heading to the West provides a more relaxing experience. The bottom line is that if you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the River Trails to the North, throw your bikes on your rack and enjoy the fall colors on the V.L. Gilman trail!
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