Looking for the best trails around Galesburg?

Explore the best rated trails in Galesburg, IL, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Duck Creek Recreational Trail and Westside Trail (IA) . With more than 22 trails covering 4039 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.

Recent Trail Reviews

Great American Rail-Trail

West bound from Ellensburg. August 2024

August, 2024 by tastesbadtobears

We ( recumbent trike & e-bike) headed West from the Kiwanis park. Turned around after 9km as the surface was really tough on the trike. There’s 2 good wheel tracks for bikes, but the trike had to ride partially in the coarse trail ballast. Scenic area with farm views and a huge windmill farm in the distance.

Duck Creek Recreational Trail

Having the trail link map helped since there are many on and off paths that look like the trail. Stay in your lane when busy. Will do this trail again. Very nice ride, plenty of bathrooms, and a nice pavilion at the west end.

July, 2024 by sparny1217

Having the trail link map helped since there are many on and off paths that look like the trail. Stay in your lane when busy. Will do this trail again. Very nice ride, plenty of bathrooms, and a nice pavilion at the west end.

Great River Trail

Great River Disappoints

June, 2024 by kevin.gruneisen

June 19, 2024 (11:30AM)
Rode the Great River Trail as day two of our Mississippi trip. I was not happy with the trip at all. Let me tell you why. The trail is 60+ miles long and stretches from Savanna, IL to the Rock Island, IL area. Having read the reviews we drove up Hwy 84 to just south of Savanna. We could see the trail along the way, asphalt but a lot of cracks/bumps, dips and yikes areas. We saw maybe 2 bikers. Our starting point ended up at Spring Lake, just south of Savanna. It was a good spot and there is a 4 mile trail around this lake, which we did not do, but wished we had. Going south, our plan was to get to Thomson and grab a lunch. The weather was hot with just enough wind, out of the south, to be annoying. At first the trail was a perfect rails to trails; asphalt path, a little cluttered but ok. We rounded a turn at a nice visitors center and then the niceness ended; as did the trail. We ended up on a country road; Riverview Road; which is a road but there were limited glimpses of the river. Traffic was light therefore we had no trouble with cars/trucks. We kept waiting for the trail to pick back up but it never did. This was our main disappointment. The saving grace was Dusty's, in Thomson, IL. The friendly staff took good care of us, cooling us down and getting us some lunch. We flipped back north, past the federal penitentiary, on the country road, this time with the wind at our backs. All in all we did 16 miles with 157 feet of elevation. This was a one time trail for us. I look back at the trail map and it does show Riverview Road, however I wanted to make sure, with this review, that other riders understood that they would be on a country road.
Kevin

Accordion

Mississippi River Trail (Riverdale to Davenport)

Mississippi River Trail - Davenport

June, 2024 by kevin.gruneisen

June 18, 2024 (12:30PM)
We rode the river trail on the 18th of June. It was hot and windy (winds out of the East/South East @15 MPH gusting to 25MPH). We parked south of Davenport at the trail head on Credit Island and rode to the Pat and Jack Bush Scenic Overlook, which provides a nice view of the river. The total round trip was 16.6 miles, with a lunch stop at Front Street Pub in Davenport. The ride had very little elevation, about 25 feet. The wind was a big factor for us as was the heat. There is little to no protection on this ride from the sun. It is all out in the open. The path was very nice, clean and paved. Will do it again, maybe starting at Riverdale and go south.
KG

Rock Island Trail (IL)

Walking perspective of the trail

March, 2024 by quietglow

I walked the whole trail this past Saturday, starting in Toulon and heading south(ish) to Peoria. From a pedestrian perspective, this is two distinct trails.

From Toulon to Alta is a crushed limestone rail trail which runs mostly through farmland. Large portions of it pass through a beautiful tunnel of trees. Each town involves a short road walk, which offer good options for snacks etc. I'd certainly walk this 25 miles again.

From Alta to the waterfront in Peoria is a paved interurban trail that spends lots of time in suburban back yards. If you like miles of fences, apartments, etc, this section is for you. The trail is signed in this section, but I still found myself referring to a GPS map to make sure I was on track. The last several miles (heading south) are relatively steeply downhill to the waterfront. I would not walk this section again.

Great River Trail

Disappointment

November, 2023 by deetiffanylb

We just returned from our week-end-a day early. Yes chilly weather was a factor but even more to the point, the trail was a Huge disappointment. We had decided to drive to south end and eye the conditions that rec'd mostly negative comments. We never even unloaded our bikes! The trail is basically not maintained, often runs right along OR on the highway for the majority of its 62 miles. The straight, unimaginative paths are not only boring but neglected to the pt of being dangerous - often far from the Mississippi River. Where did trail get it's name from?! Illinois once again leaves the user in the dust - or should I say weeds. We were left w/ a very negative impression, leading to our distrust of both the IL trail system as well as Rails to Trails reviews. It was obvious this trail was quickly laid out to meet some timeline set by a non-biking administrators. We counted two (!) people using trail in over the 60+ miles we covered from car. THAT should say it all!

We feel strongly that reviewers on Trail Link need to be more direct with readers. Polite and tolerant reviews are as much a disservice to the bikers as the abominable trail itself!

Great River Trail

nice

September, 2023 by gary.turner2

Road from Rock Island to Port Bryan and it was really nice and paved. Read reviews as this is a long trail with mixed surfaces. But we got 40 miles in our route an enjoyed. There’s a holiday inn in Rock Island 2 blocks form a trail head. Really good food wit Distance hin walking do

Rock Island Trail (IL)

Great long trail

August, 2023 by kimlogan

We started downtown Peoria and parked at the big lot at the park on Eaton Street. This parking lot has plenty of spaces and seemed to be safe. We do not live around here so all of this was new to us.

The trail was a tiny bit hard to follow in the beginning when we had to cross public streets and there was a good amount of traffic. If you want to avoid the public streets and traffic (especially if you are riding with children) then park closer to the zoo and go riding from that area. The trail does cross over many farm roads but these roads did not have a single moving vehicle on them when we were riding. There are stop signs and it is very safe to cross over these narrow two lane country roads.

We rode all the way to Princeville and then back.....I have to admit we RAN OUT OF BATTERIES on our ebikes. It was really hard to make it back the final 5 miles but we made it!

The trail is a mix of newer asphalt, ground limestone and crushed stone. There are a few spots that are pretty bumpy from tree roots pushing up the asphalt. You do have to pay attention to these areas because they are pretty bad. There were also a few spots where there was crushed stone that had some deep indentations from previous rain storms would be my guess. Your tires could kinda get stuck so just pay attention.

The trail is about 95% flat and very shady. There were spots that definitely had more people that were walking and riding and those areas where near the homes that back up to the trail in some areas. This trail seems to be very clean and safe for people of all ages.

Great River Trail

Sunset Park to Moline

August, 2023 by dwight.steen

Sunset Park is lovely, great for picnic. The trail is pretty rough. It is mostly asphalt and has a lot of cracks that have not been maintained. A couple of short bridges with wood roadbed have been repaired with sheets of 3/4 inch plywood. Signage is pretty good. We would have gone on past Moline except for the condition of the surface.

Rock Island Trail (IL)

Beautiful trail

August, 2023 by teresakwilliams

Trail is well marked and maintained . Even though I rode this trail right after a thunder storm, it was still usable. I was impressed with the natural drainage . The tree coverage was beautiful. I hope to return in the fall !

Great River Trail

not good South of Thomson

August, 2023 by jglass52

I started at the Corps of Engineers park just outside of Thomson, il. Starts out beautiful riding among pine tree. Then transitions to a treeless sand prairie paved with smooth blacktop. Virtually no shade in this area. The trail dwindles away into a blacktop road that deteriorates more and more every 100 yards or so. Just before reaching the road to the lock and dam I decided I'm not enjoying this so I turned back to ward Thomson where my car was parked. I'm perfectly willing to pay the $5 fee to ride trails in Wisconsin or Iowa.
However I will say the Great River trail is outstanding from Savanna to the Fish & Wildlife facility 4 miles South of Savanna.

Hennepin Canal State Trail

The description is incorrect. This trail is not fit for road bikes. It's a shame that the Great American Rail Rrail put this as a gateway trail as it is in such disrepair and neglect. What a mess.

July, 2023 by santasutt1

The description is incorrect. This trail is not fit for road bikes. It's a shame that the Great American Rail Rrail put this as a gateway trail as it is in such disrepair and neglect. What a mess.

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Accordion

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