Find the top rated trails in Forest Park, 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.
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Moraine Hills State Park Trail offers a wonderful experience for any geology or nature aficionado. A moraine is an accumulation of earth and stones carried and finally deposited by a glacier....
The Robert McClory Bike Path is notorious for its conglomeration of names over the years. At any given time—and depending on whom you ask—it has been called the Green Bay Trail and the North Shore...
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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Illinois’ Centennial Trail runs through parts of three suburban counties from Willow Springs Road to Romeo Road/135th Street southwest of Chicago. The trail occupies a thin strip of land between the...
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 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...
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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 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 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 Des Plaines River Trail and Greenway traverses north–south along the route of its namesake river along its course through both Lake and Cook counties. The corridor protects 85% of the riverine...
The Middlefork Savanna Forest Preserve is a natural gem hidden in an high-income neighborhood of Lake Forest, Illinois. Those 600 acres are home to perhaps the best-preserved example of the rare...
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...
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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....
The Southern Dupage County Regional Trail connects multiple of the larger forest preserves in Dupage county together. Starting near the intersection of 75th st and Ogden Ave in Aurora, the trail runs...
About an hour northwest of Chicago, the beautiful Grant Woods Forest Preserve spans more than 1,000 acres, offering an outdoor respite of prairie, woodlands and marshes. The crushed limestone pathway...
Prospect Heights Bike Path runs between Woodland Trails Park and Country Garden Park, paralleling the commuter rail tracks on its northsouth leg. The trail provides a nice off-road route through the...
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...
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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 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...
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 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 Southern Dupage County Regional Trail connects multiple of the larger forest preserves in Dupage county together. Starting near the intersection of 75th st and Ogden Ave in Aurora, the trail runs...
The 20-mile Old Plank Road Trail travels over the original Michigan Central Rail Road (MCRR) line, a railroad started about 1850 that ran from Lake Station in East Gary to Joliet. The rail was...
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...
The Waubonsie Trail links Boulder Hill and the Village of Oswego via a greenway corridor within a residential community. The eastern trailhead is in Jaycee Park, which offers a playground, picnic...
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 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 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 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 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 East Northbrook Trail is a 1-mile route through a wooded corridor adjacent to an out-of-service rail corridor in the Village of Northbrook. The trail provides access to residential neighborhoods,...
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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...
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 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...
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...
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....
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 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...
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 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,...
Moraine Hills State Park Trail offers a wonderful experience for any geology or nature aficionado. A moraine is an accumulation of earth and stones carried and finally deposited by a glacier....
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 western segment of the Great Western Trail in Illinois follows 17 miles of an abandoned railway corridor through DeKalb and Kane counties, between LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve and the town of...
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 Marquette Trail offers picturesque views of Lake Michigan as it travels through the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. This scenic route follows an abandoned rail line through a variety of diverse...
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...
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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 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 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 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 Cal-Sag Trail (or, Calumet-Sag Trail) is currently under active construction. As of August 2015, it has a competed section of about 10 miles, stretching from near its eventual western terminus to...
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 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 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 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 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 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,...
Although the Phyllis Harmon Path is short, it's an important connector in an east-west bike/ped route between Arlington Heights and Glencoe. Following Dundee Road, the paved trail goes from the Des...
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...
I rode this trail on 7-14-17 from the small Harlem Avenue parking lot to just east of the Metra Station in Matteson. This is a good, straight, smooth, and level, paved trail. The section I was rode was interesting in that there were ponds, open fields, woods, and wetlands along the way. An added bonus was Rail Fan Park in Matteson, which features nice informational placards about the Railroad industry of the Chicago metro area. Also there's an old caboose and an observation platform high in the air, on which you can ride your bike to the top.
I love hiking this trail. lots of scenery between Fairfield and Marl Flat. Just be cautioned that the some disc golfers at Fairfield may take exception to hikers and bikers. But nothing at all to worry about.
Well maintained with beautiful scenery. We started at the trail head off of Willow Springs Rd. and rode west to Lamont. Nice ride and at 11AM on cool July Saturday morning bit was surprisingly quiet. We will definitely head back for more.
Beautiful stretch of crushed gravel. All flat, no hills. 6 miles to Lock #8, great beginner ride
Tree down about 2 1/2 miles east of Utica. Blocks trail, gotta carry bikes through. A mile or so later, bridge is out gotta carry bikes across creek. Not a great trail, not much to dealing the way.
we had a lot of fun on this ride. there are playgrounds along the path too so it is super kid friendly. there were lots of people on the path so we didnt get lost, but i can see how someone might. the app helped any time i wasn't sure.
Beautiful path. Well paved - did not notice or see one "pothole" or crack; Varying scenery - saw two deer. A couple of times, it was not clear on how to pick path back up after some streets, but other friendly riders helped out. The best we have ridden in the Greater Chicago area. Looking forward to going back again soon.
We have ridden many sections of the trail and enjoy it for its long stretches without crossings and nature/wildlife. The section between Buffalo Rock State Park (which is currently closed presumably due to Illinois' financial woes) and Utica is really rough. There is a bridge out that appears to have been out for years....the only option is to climb down an embankment and walk your bike though a muddy creek--so be prepared with the right kind of shoes (Tevas or the like). West of there you will find several spots with trees down...one section you will need lift/maneuver your bike through and climb through yourself. After that the trail is paved (welcomely) as it takes you to Utica. This one section is not enough to mar enjoyment of the trail overall as it is a long and varied trail with many cool sites to see. But be aware of this section as a little bit of preparation will save you some hassles.
About 2 miles north of Crown Point you hit the loader section of the trail . BUMPY
I would like to say the Lake County section is handicap accessible.
jennpwilliams remarks about trail being ungroomed and not good can be true after heaving rains. This is a river trail and flooding can take out sections. Once dried up I feel the forest preserve district does a great job of re-grooming the trail. Overall this trail is kept well and I truly enjoy my rides on this trail.
I really liked riding on this trail! Nice scenery, not crowded, a joy. I will ride this trail again when I come back to this area.
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