Explore the best rated trails in Newton, KS, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Sunflower Santa Fe Trail and Flint Hills Trail State Park . With more than 21 trails covering 234 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.
I ride this trail 3-4 times a week round trip. You’ll get to see Wichita’s homeless problem firsthand. Lots of tents. Watch out for broken glass and sand on the path once you get beyond Douglas going south. Downtown area a pretty. North and south of downtown… not so much. Once you get near the Harry Street overpass there is an area with gnats you need to watch out for. Duck your head or they’ll get in your eyes/nose/mouth. I did the entire trail round trip today in an hour and 39 mins. It’s usually about two hours though.
I rode an electric bike with 4" tires on three separate rides. All of them were about 10 miles out and back (in 2 days):
Council Grove heading East,
Allen heading West, and
Ottawa heading East.
I drove from Texas to ride them and they did not disappoint! I came for the solitude and the scenery. The western end was reminiscent of scenes from Dances With Wolves. The eastern end was more wooded and shaded. I hope to return to ride other parts too.
I’m a runner not cyclist so my perspective might be different than others. I’ve run most of this trail and different times and find it a great place in most cases. Yes a couple bumps here and there and mix of surfaces but easy enough to handle. It’s very well maintained overall though. There are some homeless shelters along the way but I’ve been left alone. I tried parking across from the Witchita street dept to find that lot is taken over by homeless vehicles and trash. So on I went.
This was a fun trail, safe and chill, but the steady hills are still challenging. I ended up taking the trail all the way to the north end of the lake, pretty area.
We went with some friends and kiddos. Perfect for toddlers and pushing an all terrain wagon. The benches and gazebo are nice. The kids loved waving at a passing train. We live only a few miles away. Will do this one often. It’s very well maintained. Although, it’s clear some people walk dogs and don’t clean up behind them. There was a lot of poop piles.
Very nice park easy to access! Plan to ride again when down from South Dakota!
As an e-bike owner, I like this path cuz it provides decent distance, is completely paved, and it’s in a very popular park with lots of people, so it’s very safe and has lots of parking. While you’re essentially doing a loop, there’s multiple alternate routes you can take each time around that give you different views of the inner park. A few things to look at too. Zoo walls, small bridges, ponds, ball fields, playgrounds, some shaded tree covered portions as well. Great for walking too.
I have an e-bike, so long paths are strongly preferred and man, this path seems never-ending and I love that aspect. Really does take you along the river the whole way, so it’s the most “scenic” route in Wichita. I just happen to live near the south entrance and it’s my favorite path. Few homeless locations under bridges, but nothing too scary.
Today From HIE-Ottawa I rode The Prairie Spirit Tr to intersection with Flint Hills Nature Tr. Headed west at MM22 I encountered a detour that I did not want to deal with, so I set my sights on going about 22 miles east to MM0 at Osawatami¿. Trail was 1/2 very good condition n 1/2 was bigger gravel¿. The scenery was Beautiful Big AG to my liking. I met up with a red fox, a brown snake, and a big brown hawk!
April 2022 We rode east from Council Grove Ks for about 5 miles of the trail out to the Kaw monument. We have knobby cross over tires on our Pedego’s which handled the gravel just fine. We stayed at the COE campground just north of town and rode the bikes into town and on the try and back. It looks like it would also be fun to ride around town as well as the trail but rainy cold weather limited our riding during our stay in the area. Hoping to go back and ride more of the trail and around council grove.
This trail now officially/unofficially starts in Osawatomee or mile zero at the corner of 12th and South Street.
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