Find the top rated trails in Crown Point, 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.
_134498_st.jpg)
_134986_st.jpg)
_49791_st.jpg)
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...
Indiana's Panhandle Pathway links Winamac to Kenneth and communities in between, 21 miles of paved cycling, skating and walking. This spectacular rail-trail passes through bucolic Midwestern farmland,...
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...
_111257_sc.jpg)
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 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 Major Taylor Trail is named after legendary African American cyclist Marshall “Major” Taylor, who was one of the most celebrated bicycle racers of the late nineteenth century, setting several...
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 Northerly Island Trail offers access to a vast, natural oasis in one of the largest cities in America. Chicago’s Northerly Island—actually a 91-acre peninsula—was designed by Daniel H. Burnham,...
The Calumet Trail traverses the south side of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, a unique ecosystem of forest, marsh, dunes and beach along Lake Michigan. This dirt and crushed limestone path...
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 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...
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 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 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...
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...
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 beautiful North Branch Trail is named for the North Branch of the Chicago River, along which it winds. At its northern end, the trail begins at the south end of the Chicago Botanic Garden and...
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 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 Dunes Kankakee Trail is a 3-mile walking and bike path that begins in the Indiana Dunes State Park and travels south to Chesterton. It connects the Calumet Trail, which is also in the state park,...
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 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,...
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 trail system in Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve makes a loop around the entire park. The preserve is geologically significant, featuring glacier-carved rock ridges, ravines and wetland potholes,...
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 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 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...
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...
_122211_sc.jpg)
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...
_0_sc.jpg)
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 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 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...
The Calumet Trail traverses the south side of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, a unique ecosystem of forest, marsh, dunes and beach along Lake Michigan. This dirt and crushed limestone path...
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....
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 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 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 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 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 North Judson Erie Trail occupies the railbanked right-of-way of the former JK Line Railroad, running 9 miles from downtown North Judson southeast to US 35 near Bass Lake. Eventually, the trail...
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...
_49791_sc.jpg)
The eastern segment of the Great Western Trail in Illinois follows 12 miles of an abandoned railway corridor through DuPage County, between Villa Park and West Chicago. There are plans to extend the...
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 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 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 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 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...
_134498_sc.jpg)
The Bloomingdale Trail, part of “The 606” park system, is a 2.7-mile, elevated rail-trail on Chicago’s northwest side. Built on a former rail line, the trail sits nearly 20 feet above four of the...
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 Dunes Kankakee Trail is a 3-mile walking and bike path that begins in the Indiana Dunes State Park and travels south to Chesterton. It connects the Calumet Trail, which is also in the state park,...
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 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 Monterey Erie Trail occupies the same railbanked corridor as the longer North Judson Erie Trail to its west, and the two rail-trails are planned to be linked in the future. Monterey and North...
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 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...
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 Calumet Trail traverses the south side of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, a unique ecosystem of forest, marsh, dunes and beach along Lake Michigan. This dirt and crushed limestone path...
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...
What a mess, needs some gravel, no signs pointing to where to go.
Really a mud / dirt path with some gravel in places. Not good even for cyclocross bikes. I can't imagine why they say this is wheelchair accessible either. There are huge tire tracks in the mud/dirt making it difficult to ride. Too bad because it's nice running along the river and has lots of shade. Won't do this again.
Last fall, the FPD extended this trail to Forest Glen Park, near the Metra stop and across from the Chicago Canine Rescue. It is a wonderful addition and saves me the trouble of taking 1.5 miles of city streets to the trailhead at Devon & Caldwell. Others have covered this trail extensively. I just wanted to add that the total distance from Devon & Caldwell to the southern gate of the Chicago Botanic Gardens is just over 17 miles (not 20 miles as it says on Google maps and the FPD map). The 20 miles includes the entire circuit around Skokie Lagoon. You obviously wouldn't be riding around the entire Skokie Lagoon circuit in order to get to the Chicago Botanic Gardens. Once inside the southern gate, it is approximately 1 mile to the main building at the Gardens. All together, it is about 19.5 miles from Forest Glen to the main building at the Gardens.
The Lincolnwood connection to the Sauganash Trail mentioned in another review is now in place. The trail is now around 5 miles long, but has busy road crossings at Devon, Touhy, Lincoln and Howard. Also the photos on this page are of the Lake County section of the SV Trail. It will still be awhile before the two are connected.
The directions to the difficult to find Southern trailhead is go to 600 W off of Hwy 24 and go North. 600 W is 4.5 miles West of the Hwy 29 exit on to Hwy 24/35. Once on 600 W go 0.25 miles to 50 N at the Pisgah Christian Church and go East another 0.25 miles to the trailhead. The trail starts 0.8 miles South of this trailhead at a dead end. From the dead end the trail heads North around 22 miles to another dead end at 11th Street in Winnemac. There are trees along the trail for about quarter of the way and it follows Hwy 35. The trail is flat and paved asphalt. The trail is very picturesque
as it travels through the small towns between Logansport and Winnemac. If you are looking for a getaway from Indianapolis, it is about an hours drive to Logansport. You won't be disappointed.
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
Essentially, worse than an unpaved road as we biked thru standing water with tadpoles swimming about.
The section beginning near Knock Knolls park in Naperville/Bolingbrook heading north into downtown Naperville is great. The path avoids most interaction with the nearby roads, allowing you to ride on smooth pavement, uninterrupted, for many miles until you hit downtown. The section downtown Naperville is a bit windy through some streets, but downtown is a great place to stop for some food and whatnot.
The trail from Knock Knolls to Lake Whalon in Bolingbrook is also great, with a lot of good scenery and wildlife along the way.
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.
My husband, son and myself rode this trail May 24, 2017. We started at the Lake Avenue, Wilmette trailhead. We quickly ran out of both path and trail signs when we got to Cumnor Road at the end of a section traversing Townley Field in Winnetka. We used Google Maps on our phone to find the trail again by turning left on Cumnor, right on Melrose, left on Abbotsford, left on Ivy Lane, and looked for the trail on our right. North of there we had no troubles following the trail.
We passed several playgrounds and parks, some rustic areas and others which had been re-planted with native flora, as well as easy access to several North Shore downtown areas.
When we reached the crossing at Lake-Cook Rd we turned left (west) and rode past the Turnbull Woods and McDonald Woods Forest Preserves to reach the Chicago Botanic Gardens. Entrance is free and the Gardens are extensive. There is a charming cafe at which we refreshed and relaxed before returning to our starting point in Wilmette.
This is a trail to which you can return again and again, and take many fun side trips.
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.
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (a non-profit) and we need your support!
_132697_st.jpg)
_136547_st.jpg)
_0_st.jpg)
_122211_st.jpg)
_111257_st.jpg)
_0_st.jpg)
