Explore the best rated trails in Crest Hill, 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 96 trails covering 952 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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Prairies and dunes are just two of the natural features you’ll experience on the Prairie Duneland Trail, located just a few miles south of the Lake Michigan shoreline and the Indiana Dunes National...
The Buffalo Creek Trail makes a loop around the scenic Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve in Long Grove. The crushed-gravel trail provides access to facilities throughout the park. Along the way, you’ll...
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 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...
The Pennsy Greenway is currently open in two segments between Calumet City, Illinois, and Schererville, Indiana. The northern portion begins at the southern end of the Burnham Greenway in Calumet City...
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...
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 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 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...
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...
Ridgefield Trace currently consists of two short segments open for use. The western section runs from McHenry County College on US 14 in Crystal Lake to just west of N. Oak Street. Active railroad...
The Thorn Creek Trail offers a paved route traversing woodlands abundant with wildlife through several communities on the southern outskirts of Chicago. The trail travels from Brownwell Woods in...
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 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...
Leave the cars at home: the Route 30 Bike Path gives users an alternative way to travel from the Village of Frankfort in the east, through Mokena to New Lenox in the west, a distance of over 7.5...
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 North Branch Trail follows the North Branch of the Chicago River over 20 miles through Cook County. The trail was originally a dirt path often used for horseback riding; though it’s now paved, an...
The Great Divide Trail sits is a one mile non-motorized trail through a negihborhood at the northern tip of Joliet, Illinois. The paved trail, which sits in the shadow of electric transmission lines,...
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 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 Pennsy Greenway is currently open in two segments between Calumet City, Illinois, and Schererville, Indiana. The northern portion begins at the southern end of the Burnham Greenway in Calumet City...
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 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 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 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...
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 Shore Bike Path runs for nearly 8 miles between Lake Bluff and Mundelein, paralleling State Route 176 for the path's entire length. The trail is one of dozens in the Chicagoland area, all of...
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 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...
Prairies and dunes are just two of the natural features you’ll experience on the Prairie Duneland Trail, located just a few miles south of the Lake Michigan shoreline and the Indiana Dunes National...
Leave the cars at home: the Route 30 Bike Path gives users an alternative way to travel from the Village of Frankfort in the east, through Mokena to New Lenox in the west, a distance of over 7.5...
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The Skokie Valley Trail in Cook County parallels active train tracks in the Village of Skokie, providing easy access to both the Oakton–Skokie and Dempster–Skokie stations on the CTA’s Yellow Line....
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 Buffalo Creek Trail makes a loop around the scenic Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve in Long Grove. The crushed-gravel trail provides access to facilities throughout the park. Along the way, you’ll...
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 North Shore Channel Trail extends from the junction of Green Bay Road and McCormick Boulevard in northern Evanston to the junction of Lawrence Avenue and Francisco Avenue in Chicago. All but the...
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 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...
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...
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...
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 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...
Ridgefield Trace currently consists of two short segments open for use. The western section runs from McHenry County College on US 14 in Crystal Lake to just west of N. Oak Street. Active railroad...
TRAIL CLOSED: As a precaution to help limit the spread of COVID-19, the local managing authority has temporarily closed this trail. The Chicago Lakefront Trail is aptly named; it spans 19 miles...
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 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 North Shore Channel Trail extends from the junction of Green Bay Road and McCormick Boulevard in northern Evanston to the junction of Lawrence Avenue and Francisco Avenue in Chicago. All but the...
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...
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...
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...
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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....
Just 1 mile long, the Valley Line Trail—also known as the Sauganash Trail—extends between Bryn Mawr Avenue and Devon Avenue in the Chicago neighborhood of Sauganash. Two bridges allow for safe...
The Iron Horse Heritage Trail in Portage, Indiana, runs for over 2 miles between Max Mochal Road (SR 149) at the east end and Hamstrom Rd. at the west end. The trail passes through a greenway corridor...
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...
Running between the suburbs of Chicago Heights and Joliet, the Old Plank Road Trail offers views of oak trees and sugar maples, prairie grasses, and wildflowers that peek up through the...
The Techny Trail links downtown Glenview, a charming village northwest of Chicago, with the Techny Basin, a scenic wetlands area adjacent to the West Fork of the Chicago River's North Branch....
Little Calumet River Levee Trail stretches from Munster to Gary, Indiana. The trail zigs and zags through a number of local parks including Riverside Park, Wicker Memorial Park, Homestead Park,...
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...
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...
This was a great trail... We went as a Family, our youngest is 5 and oldest is 7. We all enjoyed it, make sure to spray deep woods off Ana you will be fine. Some flooded areas that you will have to climb around, a few minute on the rail road track won’t hurt anyone.
There are less crossings than the Illinois a Prairie Path and less crowded so you can safely stretch your legs more. I also like the “wild-ness” of it, lots of blackbirds, prairie and wetlands. My only suggestions would be to go when it’s cool out and not too windy. Combined with the Prairie Path it makes a nice loop!
Nice faster trail with less crossings, best ridden early in the morning or during cool season. Also better done with the wind to your back! Plenty of blackbirds and other prairie wildlife.
Needs some TLC. This will be a nice trail once it is resurfaced and the extension completed.
I’m glad I rode this trail today but next time would avoid the hottest time of the day because aside from the westernmost part, much of the trail is in open sky. That said, the curves are nice and the open space. I finished on the eastern end and was happy I could ride Naperville Rd. north to Blanchard and then President Street to reconnect to the Illinois Prairie Path. So it made a nice loop.
I think we are lucky to have this regional trail which has created network of other trail offshoots. I have no complaints, the general shadiness of the trail provided by trees is nice. I’m excited to make it my summer goal to ride the whole trail. It’s a nice gesture to be able to ride out to Aurora, Geneva or Elgin and take the Metra back, Just one note, bring plenty of water as the water fountains are closed during the COVID quarantine.
The trail itself is smooth and easy to ride, but there is a crossing of a major street, with no light. Mostly people respect the pedestrian’s way, some do not. In terms of views, it doesn’t offer much, except for the last section, which is beautiful. Overall, pretty good trail that perhaps could be expanded upon.
Rode this with my 10 year old son and loved it. Started it at Rolling Savannah woods in Grayslake hooked up on the Millennium trail and almost made it to McDonald's woods. Very beautiful lots of wildlife and quality time spent with my son.
What else can be said? It’s a straight line in people’s backyards dominated by power lines. Connects to a few very nice trails. Supposedly additions are going to be made- hopefully this was only a starting point and more will become of this in the near future.
While some sections are a little bumpy and a lot of the trail is near people’s backyards, it does provide very nice views and is pretty fun to ride. Very easy to access as both endpoints have parking lots and many sidewalks connect to the trail. Safe to say this is one of the best in Oswego.
Great trail but it is mostly crushed stone, careful with the thin tire hybrids
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