Find the top rated trails in Menomonee Falls, 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 Lake to Lake Bike Trail takes you through the beautiful terrain of the Kettle Moraine State Forest. It is a newer, well-maintained trail, with a wide, crushed limestone roadbed. It is used daily...
Broad blue skies strung with white cloud wisps; gem-green fields harboring cattails and butterflies; canopied glens giving way to cavernous quarries. It's all part of the ride on the Bugline...
In 1957, baseball legend Hank “The Hammer” Aaron led the Milwaukee Braves to the first of two consecutive World Series appearances and a championship over the usually dominant New York Yankees. In...
The Racine-Sturtevant Trail runs for 3.5 miles from the western side of Racine to near the eastern edge of the Village of Sturtevant. The trail occupies an abandoned rail corridor for most of its...
Located in Sheboygan at the South Pier, the Lakefront Bike Path begins off Indiana Avenue and connects on to the Pier Boardwalk. The trail is right off the shores so users have a pleasant ride or walk...
The Cushing Park Road Recreational Trail begins on the western outskirts of Delafield, a small community about 30 miles west of Milwaukee. From Delafield's Main Street, the trail heads south,...
The Harbor View Trail occupies a former rail bed—now shared with overhead electric transmission wires—on the southern edge of Lakeside Park in Fond du Lac. The trail parallels Harbor View Drive for...
Note: In 2015, portions of the Lake Country Trail will be temporarily closed as part of the Quad County Electric Reliability Project; please see the American Transmission Company’s website for updates...
The Seven Waters Bike Trail is a scenic corridor stretching more than 17 miles northsouth between Burlington and Muskego Lake into Waukesha County. The trail was originally three trails, locally...
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...
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 short, the West Allis Cross Town Connector represents an important start to a future link between three trails in Milwaukee County. Currently, the trail begins at a junction with the New...
The Milwaukee RiverWalk provides a pleasant way to get around Milwaukee from the Historic Third Ward, through downtown, and north to the Lower East Side. It also has easy connections to three other...
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The Fox River Trail runs diagonally along its namesake waterway through Waukesha in southeastern Wisconsin (just outside of Milwaukee). A trailhead at the E.B. Shurts Environmental Education Center in...
The paved New Berlin Recreation Trail runs straight as an east–west compass bearing for 7 miles through the western Milwaukee suburbs, from New Berlin to Waukesha. While it is void of trestles,...
The Beerline Trail, so named because the corridor was once used by freight trains transporting the ingredients for beer to some of Milwaukee’s famous breweries, has contributed to the revitalization...
The Shoreland 400 Rail Trail opened in 2013 on a former Union Pacific Railroad corridor through the heart of Sheboygan. More than 30% of Sheboygan County’s residents live within a mile of the trail,...
The Wild Goose State Trail is a premier rail-trail, spanning approximately 35 miles in Dodge and Fond du Lac counties. If you are looking for a peaceful and beautiful place to visit, this trail has it...
The Root River Pathway uses a combination of off-road trail and on-road route to form a crescent around the City of Racine. The trail closely follows the bends of the Root River, making it a great...
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...
Kinnickinnic River Trail (called the KK River Trail by locals) runs just over 2 miles in southern Milwaukee, following the river through a densely populated and industrial corridor. The trail links...
Located in Sheboygan at the South Pier, the Lakefront Bike Path begins off Indiana Avenue and connects on to the Pier Boardwalk. The trail is right off the shores so users have a pleasant ride or walk...
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...
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...
The Kenosha County Bike Trail is open in two sections separated by dense neighborhoods in the City of Kenosha. The northern segment runs northeast from 35th Street in the city to 1st Street at the...
The Brown Deer Recreational Trail runs through the Village of Brown Deer, a suburb of Milwaukee. The tree-line route parallels an active rail line through commercial and residential areas. Mid-way,...
Meadowbrook Trail parallels Meadowbrook Road offering a useful and convenient off-road route through northwest Waukesha. It begins at a connection to Lake Country Recreation Trail, a 15-mile east-west...
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...
The Harbor View Trail occupies a former rail bed—now shared with overhead electric transmission wires—on the southern edge of Lakeside Park in Fond du Lac. The trail parallels Harbor View Drive for...
The Shoreland 400 Rail Trail opened in 2013 on a former Union Pacific Railroad corridor through the heart of Sheboygan. More than 30% of Sheboygan County’s residents live within a mile of the trail,...
The Cushing Park Road Recreational Trail begins on the western outskirts of Delafield, a small community about 30 miles west of Milwaukee. From Delafield's Main Street, the trail heads south,...
The Fox River Trail runs diagonally along its namesake waterway through Waukesha in southeastern Wisconsin (just outside of Milwaukee). A trailhead at the E.B. Shurts Environmental Education Center in...
The Sheboygan Interurban Trail follows the route of an electric railway that once ran between Milwaukee and Sheboygan from the early 1900s to 1951. The trail begins at Pebble Beach Road on the Ozaukee...
The Lake to Lake Bike Trail takes you through the beautiful terrain of the Kettle Moraine State Forest. It is a newer, well-maintained trail, with a wide, crushed limestone roadbed. It is used daily...
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...
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...
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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...
In 1957, baseball legend Hank “The Hammer” Aaron led the Milwaukee Braves to the first of two consecutive World Series appearances and a championship over the usually dominant New York Yankees. In...
The Wild Goose State Trail is a premier rail-trail, spanning approximately 35 miles in Dodge and Fond du Lac counties. If you are looking for a peaceful and beautiful place to visit, this trail has it...
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 Kenosha County Bike Trail is open in two sections separated by dense neighborhoods in the City of Kenosha. The northern segment runs northeast from 35th Street in the city to 1st Street at the...
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The Prairie Trail offers a paved route of nearly 7 miles along the eastern boundary of Fond du Lac, a mid-sized city befitting its French name which means “foot of the lake” as it hugs the southern...
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The Downtown Trail—also known as the River Trail and Riverwalk Trail—runs alongside the Fond du Lac River for nearly 2 miles in the heart of Fond du Lac. The vast majority of the trail is smooth...
The Shoreland 400 Rail Trail opened in 2013 on a former Union Pacific Railroad corridor through the heart of Sheboygan. More than 30% of Sheboygan County’s residents live within a mile of the trail,...
The paved New Berlin Recreation Trail runs straight as an east–west compass bearing for 7 miles through the western Milwaukee suburbs, from New Berlin to Waukesha. While it is void of trestles,...
Fond du Lac's Brooke Street Trail follows a former rail corridor from the community's southern reaches to an endpoint not far from scenic Lake Winnebago. The city's location relative to the lake,...
The Sheboygan Interurban Trail follows the route of an electric railway that once ran between Milwaukee and Sheboygan from the early 1900s to 1951. The trail begins at Pebble Beach Road on the Ozaukee...
If you’re going to visit the historical communities that lie just west of Lake Michigan, why not use the former route of the venerable interurban railroad? The Ozaukee Interurban Trail stretches the...
The Fox River Trail runs diagonally along its namesake waterway through Waukesha in southeastern Wisconsin (just outside of Milwaukee). A trailhead at the E.B. Shurts Environmental Education Center in...
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...
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 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 Wild Goose State Trail is a premier rail-trail, spanning approximately 35 miles in Dodge and Fond du Lac counties. If you are looking for a peaceful and beautiful place to visit, this trail has it...
Note: In 2015, portions of the Lake Country Trail will be temporarily closed as part of the Quad County Electric Reliability Project; please see the American Transmission Company’s website for updates...
The Mascoutin Valley State Trail is divided into two segments along a former corridor of the Chicago and North Western Railway. The eastern section runs 10 miles between Fond du Lac and Rosendale. The...
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...
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 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...
The Muskego Recreation Trail follows a corridor originally used by the Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light, an interurban railroad in southeastern Wisconsin. The corridor was later acquired by...
Located in Sheboygan at the South Pier, the Lakefront Bike Path begins off Indiana Avenue and connects on to the Pier Boardwalk. The trail is right off the shores so users have a pleasant ride or walk...
A gorgeously scenic trail leading from Wilmette to Kenosha that for the most part follows the Metra Union Pacific North line, which is handy to know if you plan to take the whole trail but only have enough gas left in the tank to take it in but one direction.
You'll want a decent, light weight bike with sturdy tires that guarantee you some traction, as you will encounter some loose, grainy gravel better suited to a hybrid than a road bike, especially in some parts of Cook and Lake County, though a bit less than half of the trail is smoothly paved. There's very little incline, though you will encounter a slight amount of uphill biking around the Waukegan area, heading southbound, though nothing steep.
The Kenosha portion of the trail is well kept and smooth riding.
One criticism I have is the lack of helpful signage. While the state and counties want to remind you at every cross street what the rules are (no equestrian or motor vehicles), there's little helpful signage to warn you of upcoming detours or divergent routes (that's government for you). For example, the road ends near the Great Lakes Naval Base, and picks up close by, but there's little to tell you where and how. There are a few times this happens and the best advice I can give is to consult your GPS regularly.
The changing leaves of autumn made this trail especially lovely. Approximately 50 miles, all told and worth seeing every bit.
I've now ridden the northern 20 or so miles twice, starting at Russell Road both times. The first couple miles are pretty rough due to the horses. That's not a knock on people riding horses on the trail, just the reality of hoofs digging into the crushed limestone surface. It seems to smooth out quite nicely after that and is very pleasant. Not many road crossings, which is great. Yesterday's ride was much cooler than my previous, but there are plenty of places to stop in the shade if needed. I'm not a fan of the crushed limestone surface simply because it leaves my bike caked in dust, but this is a nice trail for a day's use.
Pros:
-After Dundee, no unsafe crossings (to my knowledge)
-Varied scenery ranging from swamp, light and dense forest, restored prairies, and old farmland
-Pretty empty on most days (south of Milwaukee can see more traffic)
-Can sporadically see larger animals (deer, raccoons, skunks, turtles, snakes). Guaranteed to see some warblers, woodpeckers, hawks, and finches when in season
Neutral
-Some areas are pretty desolate. The solitude can be nice, but I can imagine it attracts criminals.
-The gravel/packed dirt is OK for the most part. Around Lincolnshire you start seeing more asphalt.
Cons
-South of Milwaukee trail is muddy and swamp-like, very narrow paths
-Underpasses can close as can parking lots (I once drove from Milwaukee Ave. to Beck Lake without finding an open lot)
-Can be a bit confusing especially south of Milwaukee
To sum up, start north at Milwaukee. There's a big lot but you have to cross unprotected and bike beyond a hotel before the trail picks up again. After this there is only one other crossing at Dundee. Some people start across Dundee so they don't have to cross at all.
I was also surprised by the abundance of old ruins sometimes right along the trail. There's an old POW Camp, tons of old farm remains, and scattered agricultural machinery,
Five miles north of the eastern terminus of Old Plank Road Trail is another bike trail at Quarry Park. It is not paved, but it is beautiful! It runs alongside the Pigeon River all the way to 21st Street. There is a beautiful water-filled stone quarry with beach, a spring-fed stream, and a well-manicured forest used for frisbee golf along the path.
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.
I started my trek south on the trail from the EB Shurts Center, where there are restrooms, changing rooms and plenty of parking. The trail goes along Sentry Drive for a while, through an industrial park area then veers into a more natural setting of fields and wooded areas, all the while following the Fox River. It keeps getting better as you go south, as there are boardwalks and observation decks in the Fox River Sanctuary. After crossing Sunset Drive, you follow the the Fox River Parkway through a very pleasant riverside park. It returns to a blacktop trail that is especially scenic in the Fox River Park. There are several places to stop and admire the Fox River. The trail loops around in the park and returns north. While the trail actually starts north of the Shurt Center at Frame Park, I didn't feel like riding along busy College Avenue to rejoin the trail that leads to Frame Park. My afternoon ride was a very pleasant 10 miles.
What a fun trail to ride it does have some street riding but the views are awesome. One more reason why I love my home town
There is a beautiful off-road experience waiting for you near the north end of the trail between Terry Andrae Road and Stahl Road. Park the bike or car there in the pulloff and enjoy a meadow and woodland experience. Almost all trails eventually loop back to within 100 yards of the start. You will see the Black River Forest and some of the plants and animals that call it home. It is occasionally used as a horse trail, so watch your step. I will attach photos.
I walked this trail after a rain storm and most of the trail was dry except for a small are near the beginning. The trail was straight and not much change in grade level which made it easy to walk. The vegetation was cut back nice. My only complaint is that there is no bathroom facilities in the parking lot or along the trail. I wish they would continue the trail to Union Grove and on to Sturtevant. I enjoy walking and would love to use a trail closer to home.
This trail is hilly! If you have a road bike, it's challenging. I have a hybrid and it was fun, but very challenging. Windy, slow climbs and some pretty good sized hills. We loved the scenery, and the work out.
Loved this trail. 20 miles of rolling hills. Nothing too strenuous. Very enjoyable ride from Sheboygan to Plymouth and back. Liked crossing the roads is set up - safe and easy.
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