Explore the best rated trails in Centralia, IL. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Arches Rail Trail and MCT Schoolhouse Trail. With more than 14 trails covering 158 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.
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 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 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 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 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...
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...
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 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...
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...
You can make connections all over the countryside from the Madison County Transit (MCT) Ronald J. Foster Heritage Trail. The paved path travels 12.2 miles between the villages of Glen Carbon and...
The Madison County Transit (MCT) Schoolhouse Trail offers a 15.5-mile flat, paved route through the eastern suburbs of greater St. Louis, Missouri, between Madison and Maryville, Illinois. Along the...
You can make connections all over the countryside from the Madison County Transit (MCT) Ronald J. Foster Heritage Trail. The paved path travels 12.2 miles between the villages of Glen Carbon and...
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) Schoolhouse Trail offers a 15.5-mile flat, paved route through the eastern suburbs of greater St. Louis, Missouri, between Madison and Maryville, Illinois. Along the...
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 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) 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...
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 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 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...
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...
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...
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 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 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...
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 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) 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...
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) 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 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 offers a 15.5-mile flat, paved route through the eastern suburbs of greater St. Louis, Missouri, between Madison and Maryville, Illinois. Along the...
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,...
You can make connections all over the countryside from the Madison County Transit (MCT) Ronald J. Foster Heritage Trail. The paved path travels 12.2 miles between the villages of Glen Carbon and...
This is a wonderful trail and connects seamlessly with the other MCT Trails. We really enjoyed a cafe called "Taste of Country". Watch for the bright yellow bike with signs. The cafe is in a former vegetable stand at 4200 Hanfelder Rd, Granite City 62040. Worth a stop!
The trail is a nice combination of city & country terrain. The Amelung section near SWIC needs some TLC. The asphalt is buckled in multiple places which can make it difficult for some to navigate without an accident. The excess brush & vegetation along most of the trail has been very well maintained. Most of the wooden bridges are splintering and I met one rider that caught a flat from a piece of wood. Stay aware of pedestrians at the Belleville Station crossing. Consider adding the Orchard Loop to this ride for an extra challenge!
Really well maintained, great trail with plenty of places to park!
My husband and I just stayed at South Marcum campgrounds. We rode the bike trails there, at North and South Sandusky and also Wayne Fitzgerald State Park. We enjoyed it very much and will camp again just to bike there. Most of the trail is paved. We saw deer and baby fawns, turkeys, and even a groundhog.
We regularly ride this section of trail when we go to Edwardsville. The asphalt paving and new bridges done in 2016 made it even better. An added bonus; Glen Carbon public library just a quarter mile or so from the trail. If you go to Madison County trails be sure to ride this section
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.
I live close to this trail and ride it all the time! As of 3/25/2017, they've opened it up to shiloh-scott station which adds 3.8 miles to the trail past east belleville ymca. They are also working on the trail by caryle avenue to cut out the neighborhood(and make it more straight), that is coming along nicely and once done, will cut out a road to wait for cars to cross. Over at the other end of trail memorial hospital, they have not started yet on expanding to fairview heights station. Overall great trail for our area!
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.
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