Find the top rated trails in Cary, 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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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 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 Millennium Trail currently spans just over 30 miles in two disconnected segments, but there are plans to extend it to 35 miles and connect it to the Des Plaines River Trail. The trail goes through...
Prospect Heights Bike Path runs between Woodland Trails Park and Country Garden Park, paralleling the commuter rail tracks on its north–south leg. The trail provides a nice off-road route through the...
Stretching from Afton to Janesville, the northern section of the Peace Trail offers a paved, tree-shaded route paralleling the Rock River and an active rail line. At its northern end, the trail merges...
The Rote Road Multi-Use Path offers a paved route along the south side of Rote Road in eastern Rockford. It travels for nearly a mile, providing access to neighborhoods, businesses, and the Aldeen...
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 Four Sisters Bike Path forms a horseshoe around the northern end of Rochelle, a small city south of Rockford in northern Illinois. The path connects several schools and parks, and the city has...
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 WE Energies Trail, so named because it uses a Wisconsin Energy Corporation utility corridor for much of its route, links Racine and Oak Creek in Racine and Milwaukee counties. Despite the presence...
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 Kishwaukee Riverfront Path winds nearly 7 miles through downtown Belvidere, east of Rockford in northern Illinois. As its name implies, the paved scenic trail follows the waterway for most of its...
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An excellent example of land use in greater Chicago, the entire Skokie Valley Trail corridor is a rail-with-trail, paralleled by double tracks that sit about 40 feet to the west of the trail surface....
The Chain O' Lakes Bike Path is a paved trail that runs between E. Grand Avenue in Fox Lake and Grant Woods Forest Preserve to the east. The trail parallels the railroad track and Rollins Road/CR 31,...
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 Pike River Pathway is a short trail on both sides of the reconstructed Pike River in the Village of Mount Pleasant. The path is convenient to several neighborhoods in the community. Birds, frogs...
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...
Built on a former rail bed dating back to the 1850s, the Stone Bridge Trail provides a crushed limestone pathway through rural countryside. A highlight of the trail is passage on Stone Bridge over the...
The Paul Douglas and Crabtree Preserve Trail System connects two large nature preserves in northwestern Cook County. The trail begins at the Old Stover Trailhead in the Crabtree Preserve, near 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 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 Rock Valley College Path is a paved route looping around and through its namesake campus in Rockford. At its southern end, it connects to the Spring Brook Road bike lanes that continue east to the...
Janesville's Spring Brook Trail provides an important non-motorized route to many of the city's popular recreational amenities. The pathway begins just off the eastern terminus of the Rock River...
The 9-mile Green Bay Trail runs parallel to Chicago's Metra commuter rail line north of the Chicago city limits. Stretching through North Shore towns such as Kenilworth, Winnetka, Highland Park and...
The Millennium Trail currently spans just over 30 miles in two disconnected segments, but there are plans to extend it to 35 miles and connect it to the Des Plaines River Trail. The trail goes through...
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...
The Charles Street Community Path offers a neighborhood route through southeastern Rockford, connecting residents to CherryVale Mall on its eastern end. On its western end, Alpine Park is just north...
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...
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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 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 Busse Woods Trail system is located within Ned Brown Forest Preserve, a 3,700-acre property in the northwestern suburbs of Chicago. There are 11.2 miles of paved trails for cyclists, equestrians...
The Pike River Pathway is a short trail on both sides of the reconstructed Pike River in the Village of Mount Pleasant. The path is convenient to several neighborhoods in the community. Birds, frogs...
The Puri Path is a paved route in Rock Cut State Park, a beautiful outdoor destination of more than 3,000 acres for the city of Rockford. The path runs through the heavily wooded northeast corner of...
The Chain O' Lakes Bike Path is a paved trail that runs between E. Grand Avenue in Fox Lake and Grant Woods Forest Preserve to the east. The trail parallels the railroad track and Rollins Road/CR 31,...
The Oak Leaf Trail is the jewel in the crown of Milwaukee County’s extensive trail system. The trail meanders for more than 120 miles in and around the city of Milwaukee on a changing terrain of flat...
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...
This path runs along the west side of the North Alpine Road in the Village of Machesney Park. It starts at the Schnuks parking lot and stretches about a mile north to the Lowe’s store parking area....
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...
Although the Phyllis Harmon Path is short, it's an important connector in an east-west bike/ped route between Arlington Heights and Glencoe. Following Dundee Road, the paved trail goes from the Des...
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 paved Rock River Recreation Trail winds throughout downtown Rockford and environs, following the east bank of the Rock River through Shorewood Park and Martin Memorial Park. Officially, the trail...
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 Old Plank Road Trail travels nearly 22 miles between Chicago Heights and Joliet across a densely populated suburban landscape, where you’re never far from a café or espresso stand. Still, you...
An excellent example of land use in greater Chicago, the entire Skokie Valley Trail corridor is a rail-with-trail, paralleled by double tracks that sit about 40 feet to the west of the trail surface....
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...
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 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 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 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...
The Chicago Lakefront Trail is aptly named; it spans 19 miles along the shore of Lake Michigan, going right through downtown Chicago and passing many cultural and tourist attractions throughout the...
Moraine Hills State Park Trail offers a wonderful experience for any geology or nature aficionado. A moraine is an accumulation of earth and stones carried and finally deposited by a glacier....
The village of Palatine has connected many of its community assets with two long sections of off-road, multi-use trail. The more popular northern section is the one most references call simply and...
The Illinois and Michigan Canal State Trail follows the eponymous waterway alongside the Illinois River. It traverses the I&M Canal National Heritage Corridor, designated in 1984 and the first...
The Des Plaines River Trail runs alongside the Des Plaines River for just over 56 miles, protecting watershed habitat and forestland through much of Lake and Cook Counties. The trail is a natural...
The Willow Creek Path is a pleasant, tree-lined trail that follows its namesake creek for most of its journey through the communities of Machesney Park and Loves Park in the Rockford metropolitan...
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 KR Trail is a new addition to Kenosha County’s growing bike-ped network. The trail picks up where the Kenosha County Bike Trail leaves off, in Petrifying Springs Park. From the northwest corner of...
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 13.5-mile Lake Michigan Pathway keeps you in close touch with the sixth-largest freshwater lake in the world as it links rail-trails north and south of the port city of Racine. Along the way, the...
From Main Street and Elevator Road in Roscoe, the scenic Kinstone Recreational Path winds its way northeast through woodlands along the north branch of Kinnikinnick Creek to the Stone Bridge Trail....
There’s the official path. While nice and paved, also has nice locally known paths. If you have a dirt/gravel capable bike, seek out the more challenging side trails. They are marked at the trailheads but the signage is hidden behind tall grasses and trees. Parts of the trails are visible via Google Maps Satellite view. Pro tip: bring mosquito repellent.
Great Sept evening spin, goldenrod, milkweed,rattlesnake master...
But to pause in pedalling made us mosquito fodder. Don't forget repellant!
My husband and I rode this trail for the first time. We rode the Naperville and Bolingbrook sections many times. This section is as good. It has large portions with shade. Several toilets. Picnic tables. A dog park. Picturesque photo op trail branches. One drawback: dog poop. Strangly enough, not near the dog park. The poop is scattered 30 ft or so on either side of access points. No reason for it, because free bags are provided at each access point. Good thing dog walkers are too lazy to walk any farther. We will go back. The poop is not enough to keep us away. Also, we saw a police 🚔 patroling the trail.
Remember the big flood? Tornadoes? This trail is maintained as well as possible considering our financial state in this state. The only real problem this year is the collapsed & under repair Morris viaduct that closed the trail. You must ride on the road to Stratton Park, then back on a continuous trail through Lockport. Safe from traffic, beautiful river views, professionally repaired washed out sections plus fairly responsive fallen tree removal keeps the trail ridable. Occasional trees down may require lifting bike over. I try to break off branches to clear a temp path till they cut it up usually withing a week or two.
Some shallow flooding occurs after heavy rains between Ottawa & Marseilles that is still ridable...Appox 2-4 in deep max.
All in all a wonderful fitness ride from Morris to Buffalo Rock.
I ride this trail every chance I get as I train for a triathlon. I ride my road bike on this paved trail and ride the unpaved Illinois-Mich Canal trail on the mountain bike. I am retired and ride multiple times per week.
Negatives: Somewhat rough in sections so I keep tires ~50psi for a smoother ride. Some tricky sections till you get to know the trail.
Positives (too many to list all): Good pavement in most areas, repaving is continuously fixing bad spots. Nice water refill stations plus drinking fountains, washrooms & repair stations with tools and pumps. No need to risk riding with traffic. Nice small climbing hills for a sprint challenge. Well shaded with nice woods & great river views. Very little traffic on weekdays. Weekends are fun & not too crowded. Oswego to Crystal Lake gives a round trip century ride.
These trails are the best in our nation for long fitness rides without mixing with traffic. I feel guilty riding these near empty trails alone. Where is everybody? ;))
The pros:
Tons of wild flowers and butterflies all along the way
The cons:
We have ridden dozens of rail-trails on our recumbent tandem. This one has a fair (at best) limestone surface. The center of the trail is overgrown, so you are restricted to about a one foot wide lane in either direction. There are some nasty holes at random locations. Soft spots in the surface here and there that are very difficult on hybrid size tires. Vegetation hanging out across the trail in spots. All this makes it difficult to enjoy the ride, because you need to concentrate on the trail so much.
I would not recommend this one for any less than mountain bike size tires.
Both Winnebago and Pecatonica are the typical lovely small Illinois farm towns with shops and restaurants in both. We chose to start in Winnebago (just off route 20) and use one of the many fast-food parking lots. There is a trail from there to downtown, where you pick up the main trail.
I really like this trail and have ridden it now several times with both a road bike and a light hybrid. Pros: long, paved, scenic, uncrowded. Beautiful farmland and wildflowers, lots of trees for a shady ride on a hot day, wildlife and peaceful views. Stretches of the trail that are in great shape and a few key rest areas and comfort stations along the route. Excellent diner (Boone Co. Family Restaurant) right off the trail in Caledonia. Nicest long section is west of Caledonia. Cons: many parts of this trail are bad to downright treacherous, especially near bridges. You could easily catch your tire in a center crack while trying to avoid a pothole on your side of the trail. No mile or distance markers. Shady trail means debris is damp after a rain, and sketchy for road bikes. Some horrible bridge transitions. Trail is out east of Capron at the moment. Recommendations: Could be fabulous if better maintained. In current condition, better for a hybrid. OK for a road bike on a dry day. Either way, wear a helmet.
First let me start by saying the Oak Leaf trail is an excellent trail that circles Milwaukee county. I have been using this trail ever since it use to be called the '76' trail. Unfortunately, I haven't been on the south end in years. I recently decided to go south(starting at Greenfield park) with the intent to get to the newer of Milwaukee Counties parks, Bender park. When I got to Drexel at which point I would normally go straight east toward Grant Park I found I was able to continue South. Not having checked the trail map prior to my adventure I made the assumption that the ability to go further South of Drexel would somehow meander its way to Bender park. Unfortunately I was mistaken. Needless to say I managed to get to Bender park by going East on Ryan Rd./Hwy 100. I eventually got back on the Oak Leaf trail down near Grant park after heading North from Bender park through South Milwaukee on 5th Ave. Let me once again reiterate how awesome the Oak leaf trail is and how I should have checked the map prior to my excursion. As an avid biker I can only hope that at some point there will be an extension/offshoot of the Oak leaf trail that will allow bikers to safely get to that corner of Milwaukee county via trails.
I had a very nice bike ride on the trail from Elkhorn to the west end of Burlington. Started at the well-marked parking lot just east of Elkhorn, the trail is relatively flat and hard-packed gravel. It passes through farm fields and rich tunnels of greenery. I enjoyed lots of colorful wildflowers and birds along the way. Even glimpsed a beaver that visited the trail near the White River bridge. The creeks and river are well marked, and there are plenty of benches to rest along the way. Took a little side trip off trail in Lyons and visited its veterans memorial at the flag pole, listing its local war heroes dating back to the Spanish-American War. There's a nice coffee shop in Springfield. I rested in its shady yard, but it's only open on weekends. Heading back from the Burlington trail head, I noticed the trail gradually goes uphill, or at least it seemed that way, as I completed the 24-mile round trip on a hot summer day.
Started at Dam No 4 Woods and walked to Golf Rd and Big Bend Lake , saw plenty of animals deer, squirrels , chipmunks and beautiful scenery along the trail. Nice peaceful walk plenty to see , nice surface to walk on not muddy saw 1 deer by the 294 underpass and south of Oakton St saw 2 deer in the woods about 20 feet away from me, what a beautiful sight to see a doe and her fawn took pictures of this. It was a beautiful walk and I had a lot of fun.
First off, this is my go-to trail and I love it. However, there are 2 areas of the trail that have been closed too long and I wonder who is responsible for making repairs.
The first is on the south side of Elgin along Raymond St where the path used to run along Poplar Creek and go under a bridge. That portion of the trail has been closed for several years now and nothing appears to be happening with regard to repairs.
Bikers are forced to proceed south on Raymond then right on Riverview Drive and go 2-3 blocks to rejoin the trail. There are no directional signs for users to follow.
The second area is near the South Elgin dam where brush and fallen branches have closed the trail making it necessary to cut across a grassy field adjacent to an industrial area in order to rejoin the trail. Again, no signs are in place to aid bikers to find their way around.
Again I ask who is responsible for repairing these areas?
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