Find the top rated trails in Bourbonnais, whether you're looking an easy walking path or a long bike trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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As the name suggests, the Lake George trail travels along the north shore of Lake George, turning north at Calumet Ave/US 41 to skirt the east shore of Wolf Lake. From Lake George the trail also heads...
Traveling along the Wauponsee Glacial Trail, you'll be surprised just how quickly you can move from an urban environment into the rolling fields of the Midwest. Starting in Joliet, within shouting...
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 Pennsy Greenway is currently open in three segments between Calumet City, Illinois, and Schererville, Indiana. The northern portion begins at the southern end of the Burnham Greenway in Calumet...
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The Fox River Trail features 43 miles of spectacular biking, hiking and cross-country skiing along the scenic Fox River. The paved path can be challenging at times, but the extra pedal pushing is...
The Oak Savannah Trail takes its name from the unique ecosystem that it runs through. Once pervasive throughout northern Indiana, the oak savannah is a transitional zone between forest and prairie,...
The Thorn Creek Trail offers a paved 17-mile route traversing woodlands abundant with wildlife through several communities on the southern outskirts of Chicago. The trail travels from Brownwell Woods...
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 DuPage River Trail spans nearly 30 miles across two counties: DuPage and Will. It's currently open in several disconnected segments mainly in parks and forest preserves beginning in Warrenville...
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 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 John Husar I&M Canal Trail is the northernmost trail developed on the Illinois & Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor. The Illinois & Michigan Canal provided the final link in the water route...
The Chesapeake and Ohio Greenway (also referred to as the C&O Trail) offers a short, paved route through Merrillville, a town just a few miles south of Gary and the southern tip of Lake Michigan. The...
The Virgil Gilman Trail travels through forest and prairie, from a quiet, rural community college campus all the way into suburban Chicago. The trail's namesake, Virgil Gilman,was director of the Fox...
As its name implies, the beautiful Prairie Duneland Trail offers snapshots of the flora and fauna—from hardwood forest to remnant prairie grasslands—that once dominated this region. In spite of the...
The Marquette Trail offers picturesque views of Lake Michigan as it travels through the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. This scenic route follows an abandoned rail line through a variety of diverse...
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The Tinley Creek Trail is currently in two segments. This southern segment is within the South Green Belt Forest Preserve between Flossmor and Matteson, just west of I-57. The trail traverses wooded...
The Illinois Prairie Path (IPP) is one of the country's first rail-trail conversions. It consists of five connected trail segments with three main branches that converge at Volunteer Park in Wheaton....
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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 Kankakee River Trail is fairly wooded and runs primarily through Kankakee River State Park. Walkers, bicyclists, and cross-country skiers can enjoy more than ten miles of trail along the north...
The Chesapeake and Ohio Greenway (also referred to as the C&O Trail) offers a short, paved route through Merrillville, a town just a few miles south of Gary and the southern tip of Lake Michigan. 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 DuPage River Trail spans nearly 30 miles across two counties: DuPage and Will. It's currently open in several disconnected segments mainly in parks and forest preserves beginning in Warrenville...
This regional trail connects two of DuPage County's forest preserves—Herrick Lake and Danada—on a crushed stone pathway nearly 6 miles long. Together, the preserves cover more than 1,600 acres of...
The Erie Lackawanna (EL) Trail represents the longest contiguous trail in Northwest Indiana, running 17-miles from Crown Point north to Hammond. This trail passes through wetlands and open space on an...
Located east of Lakeshore Drive, the Chicago Lakefront Trail is an 18.5-mile linear park along Lake Michigan that includes beaches, volleyball courts, playgrounds, baseball diamonds, tennis courts and...
The Grove Road Trail parallels the local thoroughfare in the Village of Oswego, located near the southwestern edge of the Chicagoland metropolitan area. In the north, the trail begins on the east...
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 Illinois Prairie Path (IPP) is one of the country's first rail-trail conversions. It consists of five connected trail segments with three main branches that converge at Volunteer Park in Wheaton....
The Iron Horse Heritage Trail in Portage, Indiana, runs for 5 miles between Max Mochal Road (SR 149) at the east end and County Line Road near US 20 at the west end. The trail passes through a...
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 Fox River Trail features 43 miles of spectacular biking, hiking and cross-country skiing along the scenic Fox River. The paved path can be challenging at times, but the extra pedal pushing is...
As its name implies, the beautiful Prairie Duneland Trail offers snapshots of the flora and fauna—from hardwood forest to remnant prairie grasslands—that once dominated this region. In spite of the...
The 20-mile Old Plank Road Trail travels over the original Michigan Central Rail Road (MCRR) line, a railroad started about 1850 that ran from Lake Station in East Gary to Joliet. The rail was...
The Kankakee River Trail is fairly wooded and runs primarily through Kankakee River State Park. Walkers, bicyclists, and cross-country skiers can enjoy more than ten miles of trail along the north...
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The Veterans Memorial Bikeway begins in Hebron in northwestern Indiana’s Porter County. From there, it follows the diagonal route of the former Pennsylvania Railroad for just over 8 miles through Lake...
Although just shy of two miles, the Veterans Memorial Trail provides a wooded, paved trail experience for residents in the Chicago suburbs of Romeoville, Lemont, and Woodridge. Those seeking a longer...
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...
As the name suggests, the Lake George trail travels along the north shore of Lake George, turning north at Calumet Ave/US 41 to skirt the east shore of Wolf Lake. From Lake George the trail also heads...
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The Tinley Creek Trail is currently in two segments. This northern segment stretches from Palos Heights to Oak Forest and largely falls with several Cook County Forest Preserve areas, including Rubio...
The Thorn Creek Trail offers a paved 17-mile route traversing woodlands abundant with wildlife through several communities on the southern outskirts of Chicago. The trail travels from Brownwell Woods...
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...
Traveling along the Wauponsee Glacial Trail, you'll be surprised just how quickly you can move from an urban environment into the rolling fields of the Midwest. Starting in Joliet, within shouting...
The Waubonsie Trail links Boulder Hill and the Village of Oswego via a greenway corridor within a residential community. The eastern trailhead is in Jaycee Park, which offers a playground, picnic...
The Cal-Sag Trail (or, Calumet-Sag Trail) is currently under active construction. As of August 2015, it has a competed section of about 10 miles, stretching from near its eventual western terminus to...
The Illinois & Michigan Canal provided the final link in the water route from the east coast to the Gulf of Mexico by connecting Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River via the Illinois River. Today,...
The 20-mile Old Plank Road Trail travels over the original Michigan Central Rail Road (MCRR) line, a railroad started about 1850 that ran from Lake Station in East Gary to Joliet. The rail was...
The Iron Horse Heritage Trail in Portage, Indiana, runs for 5 miles between Max Mochal Road (SR 149) at the east end and County Line Road near US 20 at the west end. The trail passes through a...
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 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...
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 Grove Road Trail parallels the local thoroughfare in the Village of Oswego, located near the southwestern edge of the Chicagoland metropolitan area. In the north, the trail begins on the east...
The Erie Lackawanna (EL) Trail represents the longest contiguous trail in Northwest Indiana, running 17-miles from Crown Point north to Hammond. This trail passes through wetlands and open space on an...
The DuPage River Trail spans nearly 30 miles across two counties: DuPage and Will. It's currently open in several disconnected segments mainly in parks and forest preserves beginning in Warrenville...
The Marquette Trail offers picturesque views of Lake Michigan as it travels through the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. This scenic route follows an abandoned rail line through a variety of diverse...
The Illinois Prairie Path (IPP) is one of the country's first rail-trail conversions. It consists of five connected trail segments with three main branches that converge at Volunteer Park in Wheaton....
This regional trail connects two of DuPage County's forest preserves—Herrick Lake and Danada—on a crushed stone pathway nearly 6 miles long. Together, the preserves cover more than 1,600 acres of...
The Pennsy Greenway is currently open in three segments between Calumet City, Illinois, and Schererville, Indiana. The northern portion begins at the southern end of the Burnham Greenway in Calumet...
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...
As its name implies, the beautiful Prairie Duneland Trail offers snapshots of the flora and fauna—from hardwood forest to remnant prairie grasslands—that once dominated this region. In spite of the...
This trail is a pretty good shorter trail. I rode it in June, so views of the Kankakee River (which runs close to the trail) were limited because of the dense vegetation. But still, there are great wide-open views of the river in the State Park area, as well at as the Warner Bridge area, west of the park (the park has a great viewing platform right next to the trail that sits high above the river, great for photos). Be aware that there are some steep grades on this trail in spots. The section of the trail that I rode (from the state park westward) was completely paved and pretty smooth. There are nice brick washrooms in the State Park, right next to the trail.
Just spent an hour trying to find parking to get on trail in Lombard. Street parking limited to 1 hour and public parking limited to Lombard residents. Very frustrating. Web site should have been more helpful as should trailheads
My friend and I love doing the I&M canal as it is mostly shade and flat. The path is crushed stone and covered with trees. The path comes close to the river once in a while, but don't come to this path expecting a nice river view. This is a remote path with few rural towns in between. I recommend the part between Morris and Channahon as this part seems to be kept up regularly. Also check for path closures on the I&M before you go. We have had to re-plan our trip a few times finding out the part we wanted to go on was closed. Currently west of Seneca is not kept up with over run grass on the path and around it, we just found that out.
I've only ridden this trail once, near Channahon (which has great parking at the State Park), and it was very good and interesting. Not paved, but still easy to bike or walk. In the area in which I rode, you have the I and M Canal on one side and the Des Plaines River on the other. As you ride, you go past historical sites of the canal which are a great bonus. Also, you can fish in the DuPage River at Channahon.
This is a great trail, especially for longer run training, whether a 1/2 or full marathon. The trees throughout the trail block out most of the wind and sun. As you head west on the trail, you need to run uphill/dowhill over a couple of bridges over highways. Overall, I'd rate this as one of the best Chicago area trails.
I loved being able to ride on a trail and not having to worry about being mowed down by a big old pickup truck. I traveled from the Chesterton Skate Park to Hobart (and back) but unfortunately I was really disappointed by the bumpy ride.. My road bike graciously transmitted every tree root and surface crack directly to me sorry butt. The only smooth section was around Rt 149. There were many stretches were absorbing the bumps didn't allow me to maintain any type of cadence. All that said - I'm feeling fortunate to have the trail available and will definitely be riding there again.
biked the trail Sat 4/8/17. as previously stated, asphalt was in excellent shape, no root bumps or gopher holes. also as stated, trees blocked most of the 15+ mph winds, only a few exposed meadows. should be shaded most of the way during the summer. several parking areas, all w clean port-o-sans. tons of buttercups already up, will ride again this weekend as lots of wildflower habitat that should fill with trilliums and such in the coming weeks. almost no traffic, much better than slogging through the crowds on the lakefront. Glenwood Oaks was a great stop for lunch, and Calumet Bakery for post-ride refuel - grab a nut roll for breakfast. we came from downtown, was a half hour drive to Lansing Woods parking lot at 186th & Torrence. started down the Old Plank Trail but turned back as it was strewn w broken bottles. Thorn Creek is a great trail.
I have ridden dozens of rail trails, but this is my home trail and also one of my favorites. The trail rises slightly uphill from the start at Washington Street on the east side of Joliet, and I recommend that as the start. The trail head in Joliet--although not in the best of neighborhoods--has been safe to park in during the day and is maintained by the Will County Forest Preserve as well as policed by them. You will ride under the graffiti riddled Briggs Street overpass and then into wooded areas that take you through Joliet, Cherry Hill and New Lenox. One of the longest sections without crossings is between Schoolhouse Road and 116th in New Lenox--and at the halfway point in this section there is a spur over to Hickory Creek where you can ride lots of hills and fast passes. Frankfort is a great stop and was the halfway point before the trail was extended on the east end. Frankfort is a good place to stop and use the bathroom or drinking fountain or have a snack & water up. After Frankfort you ride through a forested area with a decline and incline. Richton Park takes you over a causeway through a nature preserve and soon thereafter you pass under Interstate 57. There is a gazebo near Cicero Avenue that is a good place to take a break, and the crossing at Cicero winds around in front of a Menards where there is a traffic signal. Next you ride through Park Forest and cross under the Metra (the old Illinois Central) on you way to the previous end point at Western Avenue. There are some cool old train displays in Park Forest. The new section of the trail past Western Avenue takes you about another mile and a half and links up with the Thorn Creek Trail. I am told if you go north you can eventually link up with the Burnham Greenway which takes you to the Lake Front Path, but I have only gone south toward Sauk Woods where there are some great trails to ride through the preserve. On the east end of the trail you can navigate the city streets of Joliet a little more than a mile to the Wauponsee Glacial Trail which takes you all the way south to the Kankakee River. The OPT is a great long ride that has many options on each end.
Rode from Wheaton eastbound to the end in Maywood and back. First time and will certainly not be my last. Gets a bit sketchy the closer you get to the end (well marked in areas that deviate from the path) but had no problems. Conditions in some points were slightly wet and soggy but overall not a problem. Nice mix of crushed stone and asphalt and places to stop and rest on benches.
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