Explore the best rated trails in Crystal Lake, IL. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Illinois & Michigan Canal State Trail and Tall Grass Greenway Trail. With more than 125 trails covering 1221 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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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 Robert McClory Bike Path runs the length of Lake County, knitting together a string of communities on the north shore of Chicago all the way to the Wisconsin border. In 1997, the trail was named...
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The Salt Creek Trail travels nearly 27 miles from the Brookfield Zoo to Busse Woods Forest Preserve. Along the way it connects several beautiful county forest preserves and other woodland...
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 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...
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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 Poplar Creek Trail is a 9.5-mile paved loop around Poplar Creek Forest Preserve near Hoffman Estates. The trail has a couple of hills but is otherwise level and makes for a pleasant journey...
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 Lake Geneva Bike Path runs through the scenic resort city, offering connections to many of the community’s amenities. The trail has five unique, color-coded segments. The Blue Route is 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 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...
Blackberry Trail follows a stretch of Blackberry Creek in Montgomery, Illinois. The trail is accessible from the forest preserve entrance at Caliendo Circle. Heading north, the trail reaches Mayfield...
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 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 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 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...
Swanson Park Recreation Path is sometimes known as the Cherry Valley Path as it's located in the Village of Cherry Valley on the outskirts of Rockford in northern Illinois. The paved path travels...
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 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...
Baumann Park is adjacent to the Kishwaukee River in Cherry Valley, a community on the outskirts of Rockford in northern Illinois. A paved pathway runs through the park and loops around Baumann Park...
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Racine’s southeastern neighborhoods are home to the North Shore Trail, which extends south to the Racine–Kenosha county line. Because Racine County standardized its signs several years ago, you won't...
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...
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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 Glacial River Trail provides bikers, pedestrians, and in-line skaters with a 55.8-mile off-road/on-road rural route winding through farmland, prairie, wetlands, and woodlands as it passes through...
In southeastern Rockford, a paved pathway begins at a connection with the Charles Street Community Path then heads south along Mulford Road through a residential area. At Harrison Avenue, the path...
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 Salt Creek Trail travels nearly 27 miles from the Brookfield Zoo to Busse Woods Forest Preserve. Along the way it connects several beautiful county forest preserves and other woodland...
Prospect Heights has very few sidewalks, so biking, inline skating or walking are moved to the streets or in the parks. Don't underestimate the Prospect Heights Bike Path which is over four miles of...
The Hebron Trail rolls across the northern Illinois prairie through the former corridor of the Kenosha and Rockford Railroad, known as the Kenosha Division Line at the time of its demise in 1939....
The Hononegah Recreation Path begins near the State Route 2 bridge over the Rock River in Rockton, a small town about 4 miles south of the Illinois–Wisconsin border. The paved trail follows Hononegah...
The Bauer Memorial Path provides a short route through residential and commercial areas of Machesney Park, a northern suburb of Rockford. The trail begins at the Harlem Community Center and travels in...
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 Timber Ridge trail is located on the eastern side of the Timber Ridge Forest Preserve in west Chicago. The preserve offers several trails, fishing, picnicking, and is home to Kline Creek Farms,...
The Deer Grove Trail is one of several great Chicagoland trails located in properties of the Forest Preserve of Cook County. Deer Grove is the oldest of all the Cook County preserves. It's comprised...
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...
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...
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 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...
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...
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 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 White River State Trail is composed of two separate segments: a 12-mile stretch that runs between Elkhorn and just west of Burlington in Walworth County, and a 7-mile section that connects the...
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 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 Hebron Trail rolls across the northern Illinois prairie through the former corridor of the Kenosha and Rockford Railroad, known as the Kenosha Division Line at the time of its demise in 1939....
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...
In southeastern Rockford, a paved pathway begins at a connection with the Charles Street Community Path then heads south along Mulford Road through a residential area. At Harrison Avenue, the path...
The Dorr Road Bike Path begins at South Beloit Municipal Park and parallels the roadway for its entire length. The views are primarily residential. After about three-quarters of a mile (from the...
The Pecatonica Prairie Trail, formerly known as the Pecatonica Prairie Path, is a 12.5-mile rail-trail extending from the western edge of Rockford to the Winnebago–Stephenson county line west of...
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...
The City of Franklin Hike and Bike Trail follows a corridor originally used by the Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light, an interurban railroad in southeastern Wisconsin. The corridor was later acquired...
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 Timber Ridge trail is located on the eastern side of the Timber Ridge Forest Preserve in west Chicago. The preserve offers several trails, fishing, picnicking, and is home to Kline Creek Farms,...
The Kiwanis Bike Trail, named for the Kiwanis Club that spearheaded the effort to build the trail, parallels the western bank of the Rock River through the southern Wisconsin community of Janesville....
Racine County's eastern edge is home to the MRK Trail, a rail-with-trail that extends north from the City of Racine to the Village of Caledonia. Because Racine County standardized its signs several...
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 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....
The Randall Road Bike Trail offers a 4-mile paved north-south route along its namesake roadway in a suburb west of Chicago. A highlight of the journey is the trail's passage through the LeRoy Oakes...
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...
Rough ride. Wish the trails would be fixed now that the new power lines are up. Might wait till next year to ride this trail again.
I love this trail. I was SO DISAPPOINTED that the trail was cut off at Willow Springs Road. Now I am wondering if the trail was open from 135th street to
Willow Springs Road.
I am also wondering what kind kind of promise is for the future.
I hit the trail today at 6am. That’s the magic hour, the air is crisp, lots of fauna to see and most of all the path is yours alone and it is fast. I started at freedom park and rode the whole length. It’s hilly and curvy in the right places. I’ll be back soon despite someone's refusal to curb their dog.
From Afton south not good washed out and not marked when you get down by Big Hill park. We were lost walked bikes up gravel path didn't realize there was a paved path up the hill cause there are no signs. There are 3 gravel paths we took all 3, 2 ended and 3rd went up the hill. If you end up there take the one that leads to the paved road and follow the road in the park till the trail resumes.
We enjoyed this trail. We had serpentineed our way from Wheaton to Batavia on the Prarie Path, were a bit tired and seeking a more direct route back. We left the Batavia Spur off the Fox River Trail, cut on a couple of neighborhood streets and entered Fermi on the Western side. (Kirk Rd and Pine Street) we weren't sure we were on a trail, (there was construction at the entrance)...but then we rode through the very interesting Fermi Labs. Nice easy paved trail on the side of the road. The trail took us to Batavia Rd which had a wide sidewalk for riding all the way to Butterfield Rd to pick the Prarie Path back up in Warrenville. A nice reprieve for our sore legs and enjoyable route!
Had my first ride on the IPP since moving to the western suburbs. I started on the main stem around Hillside, going west. Around Villa Park, I took the Wheaton Branch to Prince Crossing Rd, then picked up the Great Western Trail east, back to the main stem. Of the 37 miles I rode, about 95% was crushed limestone. Fortunately, for my first time out, I took a bike with larger tires and fenders. I came across quite a few puddles and muddy spots, and the larger tires handled the limestone well. I might be comfortable doing this ride on a 'cross bike, but I'm not sure how I'd feel taking my road bike out on it. I've seen enough of the Wheaton Spur already; way too many crossings. However, it would be a great stretch for a relaxing/recovery ride, with intensions of dining, or stopping for a beer or coffee. There are several spots one could pull off around Lombard or Glen Ellyn. I also noticed that large portions of that trail had smooth, paved, lightly trafficked roads running parallel to it. But, even managing to use roads whenever possible, all the stops and crossings break up the momentum. Hopefully, other branches of the trail have a more accommodating surface. Though for a crushed limestone path, it was pretty well packed.
Have to cross busy streets on this trail, but otherwise very nice for walking or riding a bike.
This is all ripped up now, they are replacing the power lines. Still rideable but not relaxing
Too many damn trees and straight always. No trail markings. Started at essington/ingles and ended up by the starved rock dam...
The 1890’s working Farm is also a nice bonus including gift shop and modern rest rooms.
Took a early spring hike and path is wide and very easy to navigate. An occasional bench to sit, watch and reflect. Birds were everywhere. Some sightings were red headed woodpeckers, flicker woodpeckers, blue birds, blue jays, sand hill cranes, killdeer,,brown creeper, numerous red wing black birds and robins and many more birds I can’t name. Enjoyed taking the grassy trails that took us closer to water. A delightful place to visit!
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