Explore the best rated trails in Dubuque, IA. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Bellevue Rivervue Trail and Manchester Walkway/Bikeway Trails. With more than 29 trails covering 256 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.
Beautiful trail. However the surface was a pain. The “gravel” was soft and bumpy for several miles. We would have given it 5 stars otherwise.
Took advantage of the mild weather forecasted and did the ride I had put off all summer. The fall leaves were just beyond their peak but still quite colorful. The trail surface was good except for some sections between Ridgeway and Dodgeville that were rutty and sandy. Restrooms were still open in Mt Horeb, Barneveld, and Ridgeway.
Stopped at the Brix cidery in Mt Horeb for cider and an apple cider doughnut. Stayed overnight at the Pine Ridge motel in Dodgeville - clean, quiet and only a couple hundred yards from the trail.
Just rode this today and all the negative reviews are spot on.
This ride will just tear up your bike and your body.
This is basically an ATV ride. There is no reason for anyone on a bike to do this unless you like fixing flats and rewelding bike parts.
We throughly enjoyed this path!! The scenic views were amazing and wildlife everywhere. Definitely will ride it again.
What a beautiful and accessible trail, with a lovely range of scenery along the way. At the end of the official trail, turn right on a (lightly trafficked) country road to continue another couple of miles to the base of Chestnut Mountain ski lift. On the day we went, the lift was running and it was free for cyclists to go up and explore.
We had been on Heritage Trail and continued directly onto BeeLine trail without knowing it! it was VERY well down with passages under roads or could use a ramp to go up to road level. I was very impressed with what Dubuque had done with trail. we continued down to Mississippi river to Lock#11, all on one continuous bike trail. I read a review that morning to start at Heritage pond. we did that, road west for about 8 miles, then we were glad yo get to the paved section east toward downtown Dubuque and the river. great job putting it all together. we finished with about 28 miles.
Loved riding this trail. Very shaded for the most part and well maintained. The last few miles to Dyersville gets exposed to the sun and wind. Many things to see along the way and many selfie ops. The trail map indicated water and picnic shelter at Dyersville end. When I got there the trail terminates at the end of Beltline Rd, by a lumber yard, I found no facilities there and turned around. Checking Google Maps I later found that you have to ride another 0.6 miles along Beltline Rd to get to the trailhead and this is not obvious or signed when you get to the "end" of the gravel. I'm sure many like me would have turned around also as you can't see the trailhead when you look down Beltline Rd.
We rode the Great River Trail from our hotel outside of Thomson, IL and headed south past Fulton (little over 18 mile ride from our hotel). We turned around a little past Fulton because we hit rather large gravel and didn't want to wind up with a flat tire. This area of the trail is about 50-50 road and trail. One section of road that was asphalt was in pretty bad shape. Signage was poor, no place to potty, no place to get water, and not well shaded. While we didn't go on the middle of the trail, we did drive past it. It looks like a lot of that goes along IL84. We did spend another day going from Hampton, IL to Rock Island. Signage was much better, river view most of the way, and plenty of places to stop along the way.
We rode the middle of the trail on two consecutive days because we loved the trail so much. Lots of benches and restrooms, very scenic with tons of shade even at one in the afternoon. The prettiest section was from Durango west for 8 miles. You ride along the creek and I and out of high bluffs on both sides of the trail. The trail has about a 1% grade up riding west and prevailing winds tend to be out of the west so recommend starting at either Sageville or Durango and riding west depending on how far you want to ride. This trail rates in my top 3 trails in the Midwest. Hubby and I have ridden over 120 trails and generally do a 20-25 mile trip each time we ride. Reward yourself and eat at Brazen for dinner.
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