Find the top rated trails in Centralia, 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.
This trail gets its name from the MetroLink Red Line train track it parallels through eastern Belleville and (briefly) the village of Swansea. It is a classic rail-with-trail configuration, where...
The Madison County Transit (MCT) Nature Trail goes through richly varied surroundings of city, farm and wood. In the west, it begins at beautiful Wilson Park in Granite City. From there, it makes its...
The Madison County Transit (MCT) Goshen Trail is a namesake of the old Goshen Road that was built in 1808 to supply salt to the first permanent settlers of Madison County. The modern bike trail...
The Rend Lake Bike Trail, in the heart of southern Illinois, goes around nearly half of the second-largest man-made lake in the state. Along the way, trail-goers will enjoy picturesque views of the...
The Delyte W. Morris Trail lies entirely on the campus of Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville (SIUE). It is named for the university's president at the Carbondale campus in the 1960s who helped...
The Madison Count Transit (MCT) Watershed Trail is all about trains, bridges and waterways. It follows an abandoned rail corridor built in 1868, the first to serve the city of Edwardsville, itself the...
This trail along Richland Creek is in two discontiguous sections that must be accessed separately. The northern section goes by the thick and quiet woods of Centennial Park, where there are also very...
The MCT Quercus Grove Trail begins in Edwardsville at its junction with the MCT Nickel Plate Trail. It begins on city sidewalks and alleys near Edwardsville's historic downtown area and very quickly...
The Madison County Transit (MCT) Nickel Plate Trail is the longest of the county’s trails and perhaps the most diverse in its offerings. On the west, it begins at a junction with the MCT Nature Trail,...
The Carlyle Lake Bike Trail is located in one of Southwest Illinois's most popular recreational areas, just 50 miles east of St. Louis, Missouri—not far from that area's abundance of great trails, as...
The Madison County Transit (MCT) Schoolhouse Trail is part of the Transit District's system of more than 100 miles of urban and suburban trails—many of which are former railroad corridors, all of...
The Glen Carbon Heritage Bike Trail is part of a trail network spanning more than 100 miles managed by Madison County Transit (MCT), which also runs busses equipped with bike racks for passenger...
Hesse Trail connects two neighborhoods and a park in the city of O'Fallon with plans to extend and connect it to other trails in the large Metro-East area. It is a short, completely tree-covered...
Opened in the Fall of 2012, Arches Rail Trail continues to be improved by an active local support group. It lies between Butler and Hillsboro, Illinois, along a section of an old 1850s route that...
Hesse Trail connects two neighborhoods and a park in the city of O'Fallon with plans to extend and connect it to other trails in the large Metro-East area. It is a short, completely tree-covered...
The Madison County Transit (MCT) Nickel Plate Trail is the longest of the county’s trails and perhaps the most diverse in its offerings. On the west, it begins at a junction with the MCT Nature Trail,...
This trail gets its name from the MetroLink Red Line train track it parallels through eastern Belleville and (briefly) the village of Swansea. It is a classic rail-with-trail configuration, where...
The MCT Quercus Grove Trail begins in Edwardsville at its junction with the MCT Nickel Plate Trail. It begins on city sidewalks and alleys near Edwardsville's historic downtown area and very quickly...
The Glen Carbon Heritage Bike Trail is part of a trail network spanning more than 100 miles managed by Madison County Transit (MCT), which also runs busses equipped with bike racks for passenger...
The Madison County Transit (MCT) Schoolhouse Trail is part of the Transit District's system of more than 100 miles of urban and suburban trails—many of which are former railroad corridors, all of...
The Delyte W. Morris Trail lies entirely on the campus of Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville (SIUE). It is named for the university's president at the Carbondale campus in the 1960s who helped...
The Rend Lake Bike Trail, in the heart of southern Illinois, goes around nearly half of the second-largest man-made lake in the state. Along the way, trail-goers will enjoy picturesque views of the...
This trail along Richland Creek is in two discontiguous sections that must be accessed separately. The northern section goes by the thick and quiet woods of Centennial Park, where there are also very...
The Madison County Transit (MCT) Nature Trail goes through richly varied surroundings of city, farm and wood. In the west, it begins at beautiful Wilson Park in Granite City. From there, it makes its...
The Madison Count Transit (MCT) Watershed Trail is all about trains, bridges and waterways. It follows an abandoned rail corridor built in 1868, the first to serve the city of Edwardsville, itself the...
The Madison County Transit (MCT) Goshen Trail is a namesake of the old Goshen Road that was built in 1808 to supply salt to the first permanent settlers of Madison County. The modern bike trail...
The Carlyle Lake Bike Trail is located in one of Southwest Illinois's most popular recreational areas, just 50 miles east of St. Louis, Missouri—not far from that area's abundance of great trails, as...
The Madison County Transit (MCT) Schoolhouse Trail is part of the Transit District's system of more than 100 miles of urban and suburban trails—many of which are former railroad corridors, all of...
This trail gets its name from the MetroLink Red Line train track it parallels through eastern Belleville and (briefly) the village of Swansea. It is a classic rail-with-trail configuration, where...
The Madison County Transit (MCT) Nickel Plate Trail is the longest of the county’s trails and perhaps the most diverse in its offerings. On the west, it begins at a junction with the MCT Nature Trail,...
Hesse Trail connects two neighborhoods and a park in the city of O'Fallon with plans to extend and connect it to other trails in the large Metro-East area. It is a short, completely tree-covered...
This trail along Richland Creek is in two discontiguous sections that must be accessed separately. The northern section goes by the thick and quiet woods of Centennial Park, where there are also very...
The Delyte W. Morris Trail lies entirely on the campus of Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville (SIUE). It is named for the university's president at the Carbondale campus in the 1960s who helped...
The Rend Lake Bike Trail, in the heart of southern Illinois, goes around nearly half of the second-largest man-made lake in the state. Along the way, trail-goers will enjoy picturesque views of the...
The Madison County Transit (MCT) Goshen Trail is a namesake of the old Goshen Road that was built in 1808 to supply salt to the first permanent settlers of Madison County. The modern bike trail...
The Madison Count Transit (MCT) Watershed Trail is all about trains, bridges and waterways. It follows an abandoned rail corridor built in 1868, the first to serve the city of Edwardsville, itself the...
Opened in the Fall of 2012, Arches Rail Trail continues to be improved by an active local support group. It lies between Butler and Hillsboro, Illinois, along a section of an old 1850s route that...
The MCT Quercus Grove Trail begins in Edwardsville at its junction with the MCT Nickel Plate Trail. It begins on city sidewalks and alleys near Edwardsville's historic downtown area and very quickly...
The Glen Carbon Heritage Bike Trail is part of a trail network spanning more than 100 miles managed by Madison County Transit (MCT), which also runs busses equipped with bike racks for passenger...
The Madison County Transit (MCT) Nature Trail goes through richly varied surroundings of city, farm and wood. In the west, it begins at beautiful Wilson Park in Granite City. From there, it makes its...
The Carlyle Lake Bike Trail is located in one of Southwest Illinois's most popular recreational areas, just 50 miles east of St. Louis, Missouri—not far from that area's abundance of great trails, as...
There are beautiful sections of this trail and I'll absolutely walk it, again and again, however I feel it's incredibly important to note that there is no parking at the endpoint off 3rd and Cleveland. Instead, it looks like a shady part of town. I drove around and found a parking area near Monroe and Bornman, at the ball fields.
This is a really nice trail with beautiful scenery. The people are real friendly. My bike computer stated around 4 miles from the north end of Centennial park to centreville ave. The trail was close south of that point which should be around another 2 miles. If you are looking for a trail that you can get up to speed and maintain it then this isn't for you. There are a lot of curves that will reduce your speed. But it was nice for a good leisurely bike ride. I would recommend it.
Parking and trail markings are the only reason this trail looses a star. Tried to park at the trail head on the map at a campground and was told to park further up the trail at the dam recreation site. No big deal except it cut 2 miles off the trail one way. The trail over the dam and is very scenic and wide where it shares the road with car traffic. After this the trail seemingly ends according to sign markings but a quick jog down a smaller road without a dedicated bike trail gets you to the levee portion which is more hard pack than asphalt. Easy to peddle on my hybrid though. Very beautiful country and flat grade made for a wonderful morning 16 miles!
Super nice trail. Well kept and super nicely shaded. Just a heads up: park at the Glen Carbon trailhead. It makes the ride back so much easier bc it's vaguely uphill. Also of note: some seriously weird noises along trail nearing Marine. Chickens?
Loved taking this trail today for some rollerblading. I've had trouble finding paths that are smooth, flat, and not too crowded, but this is it! The beautiful scenery around the lake was an added bonus.
I really enjoyed the scenery here as well as the wildlife. There are tons of shaded areas along the way and plenty of interesting things to look at. We saw a large buck, doe and little fawn as well as some larger birds.
The ride is really flat and super well-maintained, and Horseshoe Lake was really pretty during golden hour. My one caveat: where we parked (the very west end of the trail) didn't feel very safe.When we arrived, there were no other cyclists in the area and there was a dog roaming around without a collar. I know this sounds awfully judgy, but I am a St. Louis City resident who lives just off Grand and have seen my fair share of crime. Next time we'll just park the car further up the trail near other people.
Don't let that dissuade you front trying this trail!
Madison County out did themselves with these trails. They are flat for the most part, clear, spacious and well maintained. You can get a short ride or get a nice distance ride in like my buddies and I did from Horeshoe Lake out to Marine.Highly recommend.
First 4 to 5 miles coming out of Mairne was all open farm fields. The rest of the ride was mostly all shade. Nice paved trails with recently rebuilt bridges. All in all a nice ride!
The trails are great and are a good way to get through the area. One spot has a sign that says no skateboarding and I'd been skateboarding there for a long time so I called a lot of people and finally got info that skateboards are totally allowed on all glen Carbon heritage trails. I don't know who put the sign up but it might want to be taken down if all parts of the trails allow skateboards
Very well maintained trail. Long stretches without roads to cross or other things to slow you down. On the Granite City end there are lots of turns and crossings to negotiate. I ride this trail daily. 10/10
Flat and scenic, this was a good trail for our family of non-avid bikers, pulling a 4 and 2 year old in a trailer. We saw chipmunks, snake, and a couple roosters!
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