Find the top rated trails in Hammond, 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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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 Paul Douglas and Crabtree Preserve Trail System connects two large nature preserves in northwestern Cook County. The trail begins at the Old Stover Trailhead in the Crabtree Preserve, near 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...
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 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....
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 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...
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...
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The 4.4-mile River Bend Trail is so named for the loop of Fox River along which it follows on its eastern end. It's here that you can connect to the scenic Fox River Trail to travel 43 miles along 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 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...
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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....
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...
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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...
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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...
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 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 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 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 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...
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 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 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 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...
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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 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 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 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 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,...
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 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,...
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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 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...
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 village of Palatine has connected many of its community assets with two long sections of off-road, multi-use trail. The more popular northern section is the one most references call simply and...
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 Buffalo Creek Trail makes a loop around the scenic Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve in Long Grove. The crushed-gravel trail provides access to facilities throughout the park. Along the way, you’ll...
The Virgil Gilman Trail travels through forest and prairie, from a quiet, rural community college campus all the way into suburban Chicago. The trail's namesake, Virgil Gilman,was director of the Fox...
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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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 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 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...
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 Virgil Gilman Trail travels through forest and prairie, from a quiet, rural community college campus all the way into suburban Chicago. The trail's namesake, Virgil Gilman,was director of the Fox...
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 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 village of Palatine has connected many of its community assets with two long sections of off-road, multi-use trail. The more popular northern section is the one most references call simply and...
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 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 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....
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...
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 Prairie Point Trail is a scenic neighborhood route that connects twice to the longer Grove Road Trail. While never far from houses, the trail offers surprising scenery, including a stretch along a...
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 Buffalo Creek Trail makes a loop around the scenic Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve in Long Grove. The crushed-gravel trail provides access to facilities throughout the park. Along the way, you’ll...
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 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 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,...
The 4.4-mile River Bend Trail is so named for the loop of Fox River along which it follows on its eastern end. It's here that you can connect to the scenic Fox River Trail to travel 43 miles along the...
I see a lot of five star reviews and I am guessing those come from people at the north end of this long trail. South of where it crosses Milwaukee Avenue, there are some pretty poor areas. It floods out, there are unsafe road crossings. In one place it comes down to a worn path barely a tire's width. South of Touhy Avenue the surface is uneven with some rocks and old broken asphalt. I ride this trail often because it is the one closest to me, but for the stretch I know, I cannot give this a high rating. The North Branch Trail is much better, a few miles east.
We rode the section from Pottawatomie Park in St. Charles to Aurora on Saturday September 16th in the afternoon. Once we found the trail from the parking lot, it was a lovely ride and not a lot of hills. It passes through a few congested areas near parks and through downtown St. Charles but largely it was not overpopulated. There are a few places that it wasn't terribly clear which way to go, there's a main trail with trails that go off it and at one point there are two trails, one on each side of the river. Once we got to Aurora there was a bit of street riding, well marked, and then there was nothing although I knew we couldn't be at the end based on the map. The trail is all asphalt and in pretty good condition. The scenery is beautiful and goes through some nice towns.
Sunday Sept. 17th we rode the part from Norris Woods in St. Charles to the 5 or 6 mile mark which is north of Elgin. There were lots of places that were not marked well at all, there were a lot of confused riders including us. There's currently one section that is closed, we figured it out going north, going south we missed the turnoff but were able to figure out how to get back on the street. The scenery was not as nice as the south section. There are more hills on this route including one right at Norris Woods, one in Elgin that I had to get off and walk and one mid way that was very challenging. Mostly asphalt, some street riding, a couple small crushed limestone sections.
Interesting, but a bit confusing. This is a mix of a 'real' trail around the Techny conservation area (big depression) and sidewalks converted for bike use (or so it appeared). It goes through an industrial park where the path is not very clear, then along city streets later. The part around the conservation area is quiet and pretty; the lower stretch along Lehigh Avenue is clear to follow with not much traffic (mid-day; mid-week). Positive is that there is only one major road crossing and it has buttons to request a walk signal. I liked it enough to ride it again, but would not say it is the best in the area. It is not a long ride, so the really serious might want to use other paths.
An amazing escape from city life, the North Branch Trail is truly amazing. There are a few major road crossings but in between, it's nothing but shade, chipmunks, squirrels, and deer. A lot of deer. A word of warning: if the trail is wet, be careful around corners while biking. I crashed my bike riding through a leaf covered wet corner. No real problems with this Trail, except for your occasional bump but someone has come through and marked them with spray paint to warn riders. The trail has been extended past where this map ends on the south side, and the entirety of the trail is around 20.4 miles, not the 23 miles this map advertises. Just rode the entire trail today. Highly recommend completing this trail at least once.
Have ridden several times: north from Elgin past Carpentersville and then Aurora North to Red Gate Bridge. It's too suburban and crowded for my taste. Trail too narrow to share with walkers, baby strollers and bikes. I prefer Plank Trail, Cal Sag Trail, Centennial, which you can take all the way east to Columbia Woods, the I and M, though limestone, has more of an adventure feel to it, which is what I'm looking for in a ride, and the Waubonsee Glacial trail which is farm country to Kankakee and also allows you to explore Midewin Tall Grass Prairie. These are wider trails, with more varied scenery and less suburban atmosphere overall, except for portions of Plank around Frankfort and some to the west. It's a nice trail, but there are better ones out there.
This trail has not been developed yet. It would be great if someone on the planning board would write a review, providing information covering the future plans for this trail.
This little extension to Vet Memorial trail is a true challenge. A very significant hill but a fun ride down. I need it to train for a ride in MI that has rolling hills. It's pretty and well maintained, not heavily travelled. At the top of the hill you're parallel with a major expressway: 355? 55? I'm not sure. I start at Willow Springs I&M John Husar, follow SW to the ramp over Rte 83, take bridge bike lane, thru woods which are part of Waterfall Glen, then past industrial mulch company road, pass Lemont, make a right over river bridge, immediately starts to incline, you cross a small road, then an even steeper incline, somewhat winding, very pretty. At top you end up in a very clean and tidy industrial park, possibly in Woodridge. It's not ideal for the leisure family ride, unless the family is bicycling oriented. I'm usually proud of myself for choosing to add this spur to my ride. Go back, take bridge over river, left to Willow Springs, right to Romeoville/Isle la Cache.
The 606 is amazing. Just the concept itself is unique and beautiful to experience. However, recent crime has made the 606 a no-go for me. Realistically, robberies can happen anywhere at anytime, but the recent uptick in these happening at the 606 has me on edge. If you go, go with another person, go during the day, and keep your wits about you. Pay attention to suspicious people and report any incident or anyone suspicious. This is a rule of thumb for doing anything in the city: just be smart.
I rode the entirety of the trail on 8/21 from Rogers Park to the South Shore Golf Course and back, so a total of a little over 39 miles. While the vast majority of the trail is amazing, there are a few hang ups for anyone looking to take a serious ride. For one, the trail south of the center of the city is in poor condition. Pot holes and cracks are a constant hazard. Secondly, the trail kind of disappears when you get to Navy Pier, and picks back up on the south side of the Chicago River. No designated path for bikes who are forced to share the sidewalk with tourists, pedestrians, and other bikes. It can be a little frustrating. Lastly, the beaches are atrocious to navigate with clueless pedestrians and tourists looking up at the sky, down at their feet, but never behind them to see who is approaching. All that being said, being able to see the city coming from the south side is phenomenal and incomparable to other trails. I highly recommend taking this trail at least once, if only to see the full spectrum of Chicago.
Great trail! Accessible, scenic and well-kept. I've lived walking distance from the trail for 20 years. It can be perfect walking, jogging and biking. We've enjoyed it for family outings with the kids when they were children. For safety, solo activities are best avoided as the trails can be isolated and very wooded in some areas. avoided for worecommend group outing
I rode most of the trail below Joliet on July 28 , 2017. Except for the closures shown on the DNR website (downtown Morris, Marseilles to Ottawa, and two bridges out near Utica), the trail was in decent condition. (I was glad I was on a hybrid and not a skinny bike.)
Joliet to Morris was in good shape. Some of this section is dull, some parts are pleasant.
The closure in Morris has been there for years, and the street detour is easy and not too long.
Morris to Seneca is my new favorite section: quieter and more woodsy than the rest. No trail problems.
Seneca to Marseilles was fine. There’s a good view of the Illinois River if you go a few blocks south of the trail in downtown Marseilles.
Marseilles to Ottawa was mostly dull and pointless. I went around the barricade just west of Marseilles and had to carry my bike over downed trees, which I expected. It got old after a while, though, and since the trail was boring at that point, I wish I hadn’t bothered. There’s a nice paved road next to the trail – use that instead.
Ottawa to Utica is in decent shape, except for the bridge that’s out, and I like this section. I went about 9 miles west from the Fox River aqueduct in Ottawa and came to the bridge. I was tempted to take my shoes and socks off and wade through the two inch deep stream and continue, but turned around instead. (It’s only another mile or so to downtown Utica).
I like the section below Utica, but with the bridge out, I didn’t feel like continuing.
If you accept the closures and the dull parts, the I&M is a good Illinois trail.
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