Explore the best rated trails in Oak Creek, WI. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the New Berlin Recreation Trail and Brown Deer Recreational Trail. With more than 55 trails covering 711 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.
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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...
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 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 Ridgefield Trace is a multi-use pathway that runs through suburban Crystal Lake, Illinois. The trail takes its name from the original Indian trace that once ran along the route of what is now...
The Oak Leaf Trail is the jewel in the crown of Milwaukee County’s extensive trail system. The trail meanders for more than 125 miles in and around the city of Milwaukee on a changing terrain of flat...
The KR Trail is a new addition to Kenosha County’s growing bike-ped network. The trail picks up where the Kenosha County Bike Trail leaves off, in Petrifying Springs Park. From the northwest corner of...
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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...
Helping to extend the excellent network of trails around the city of Racine deeper west into the heart of the county, the Racine County Bike Trail serves as a disconnected addition to the...
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....
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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 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,...
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 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...
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 52-mile Glacial Drumlin State Trail between Cottage Grove and Waukesha provides a glimpse into the past when glaciers bore down on southeastern Wisconsin in the last Ice Age. Those gigantic sheets...
This bike path sits on the east side of Almond Road between Washington Street and Fairfield Lane in Gurnee. The 8-foot wide asphalt path is used by residents as a spot for exercise and recreation, but...
The Jefferson County Interurban Trail is a paved multi-use trail that follows a former interurban rail line for what will eventually be almost eleven miles through Jefferson and Waukesha County. About...
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...
The Millennium Trail currently spans just over 30 miles in two disconnected segments, but there are plans to extend it to 35 miles and connect it to the Des Plaines River Trail. The trail goes through...
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 52-mile Glacial Drumlin State Trail between Cottage Grove and Waukesha provides a glimpse into the past when glaciers bore down on southeastern Wisconsin in the last Ice Age. Those gigantic sheets...
The Ridgefield Trace is a multi-use pathway that runs through suburban Crystal Lake, Illinois. The trail takes its name from the original Indian trace that once ran along the route of what is now...
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 Duck Lake Nature Area Trail follows the southern side of Lake Como between Lake Geneva and Como, Wisconsin, not far from the Illinois state line. The trail is more rustic than most rail-trails and...
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...
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 Oak Leaf Trail is the jewel in the crown of Milwaukee County’s extensive trail system. The trail meanders for more than 125 miles in and around the city of Milwaukee on a changing terrain of flat...
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 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 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...
Helping to extend the excellent network of trails around the city of Racine deeper west into the heart of the county, the Racine County Bike Trail serves as a disconnected addition to the...
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...
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...
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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...
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The Eisenbahn State Trail gives a nod to Wisconsin’s German heritage in its name—Eisenbahn is German for “railway.” The strict translation, “iron road,” refers to the iron rails originally used as...
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 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 Bull Valley Road Shared-Use Path travels along the south side of Bull Valley Road in the city of McHenry, Illinois. The paved path is suitable for non-motorized uses including walking, jogging,...
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...
Helping to forge a connection between the northern and southern segments of the Kenosha County Bike Trail, the Kenosha Pike Bike Trail also has plenty to offer in its own right, giving trail users a...
The Fort Hill Bike Path trail sits on the north side of Peterson Road/ County Road 20. The trail peels away from the Prairie Crossing Bike Path at Midlothian Road and extends west, passing industries...
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...
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 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 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,...
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...
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...
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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 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...
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...
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 Lake Country Recreation Trail runs from the western edge of Waukesha to Oconomowoc in Wisconsin’s Lake Country area. Most of the trail was built on a former Milwaukee-Watertown Interurban Railway...
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 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...
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...
The Des Plaines River Trail runs alongside the Des Plaines River for just over 56 miles, protecting watershed habitat and forestland through much of Lake and Cook Counties. The trail is a natural...
The Pike River Pathway is a paved, multi-use trail that runs along both sides of the reconstructed Pike River through the Village of Mount Pleasant and unincorporated parts of Racine County. The path...
The Bull Valley Road Shared-Use Path travels along the south side of Bull Valley Road in the city of McHenry, Illinois. The paved path is suitable for non-motorized uses including walking, jogging,...
The Millennium Trail currently spans just over 30 miles in two disconnected segments, but there are plans to extend it to 35 miles and connect it to the Des Plaines River Trail. The trail goes through...
I started from the south entry point and only made it a few miles in before deciding to just take the roads back south. It hadn't rained for a few days and the bridge underpasses were still full of pooled water and soft mud. I don't even know if I'd ride through them on a mountain bike unless I was really looking to get nasty.
The Milwaukee County Parks, Oak Leaf Trail webpage says the extension of the South Shore Line segment is open to Bender Park. It is not yet show on the TrailLink map. On my September 2022 trip up to the Oak Leaf Trail, to do the original South Shore Line and the Oak Creek Line, I decided to see what the new extension was like. Yes, it is open with routing signs in place and a creek bridge constructed. But the surface is made up of 1-inch sized crushed stone which is typically used as a base layer under asphalt pavement. Even though I have a gravel bike, from Drexel Ave I only made it down to Pennsylvania Ave and gave up the going further. It’s just too rough. I made the trip back using highways. I searched on the internet, and it seems that the funding grants describe a 2023 completion. I hope what is the case is the asphalt paving will be done in 2023.
Great trail; all paved. Lots of things to do along the way; many different stopping places available!
Love this trail! Can find several restaurants to eat at, play miniature golf, get a great cup of coffee all on the trail! Great trail!
I started from a local community center near the south end, (asking permission to park my car there first). Also gave them a small donation when I returned. Most of this trail hugs the coastline, though the last few miles is along city streets. At the northwestern end of the trail, I found it joined up with a local rail trail, which runs from 3 Mile Road to Layard Ave. paralleling Douglas Ave., though it is not on Traillink. So I took that a few miles south and rode some city streets until I rejoined the Lake Michigan Pathway. In several places, the trail is not obvious or well marked, so keep your traillink app open to see where you are if you aren't sure. I recall one spot that looked like an alley past an industrial area, but it went down to the marina and the trail. Once past that, there are signs periodically to point you the right way.
The trail is closed at mile 6. There is little, if any signage for the detour. Take Old Elm Rd east to pick up the North shore trail to bypass the closure.
Starting at the Brown Deer Village Park and heading south, I did what I call the NE Quadrant of the Oak Leaf Trail, consisting of the trail north of downtown Milwaukee. If you look at the trail map, there are some loop segments and some spurs that can be done. I did them all. Some segments are on old railroad beds and some on subdivision roads or separated bike lanes. Some sections were newly paved. You head back north after reaching downtown Milwaukee, but I stopped for lunch at the brat/beer garden along the trail at the art museum. Especially useful is having the downloaded TrailLink map as the connection to the parts of the Oak Leaf Trail south of downtown are not that well marked at the ongoing highway construction. There were good trail signs at other periodic locations.
The trail in last couple of years has been extended south to Highway KR.
Construction of a 36" water main paralleling the path in 2020 closed a considerable amount of the trail from Braun Road to almost Case H.S./about 16 th street.
And in 2021 the south end of the trail from Braun Road south to Highway KR was closed for construction of an adjacent Foxconn/TID related sewage pump lift station/2-20" force mains and the construction/replacement of Highway KR (new KR includes a bridges over U.P. and C.P. railroads and the Pike River) .
The trail is now fully open and connects to paved paths: that parallel KR and lead west to paved paths surrounding/adjacent to Foxconn along with connection east to Kenosha County paved path leading south to Petrifying Springs - Kenosha County Park.
From Petrifying Springs dedicated paved paths lead south to Illinois and McClory bike trail.
Rails to Trails needs to update their description/mapping of this area as much has changed in the last couple of years.
This is a nice bit of paved trail. I do wish the city would connect the two segments.
This is the second time this week on a trail,Green Bay trail,where you get into one town,there Highland Park there Crystal lake here,where the signs for the trail are confusing or don't let you know if your on the trail or going towards a library,school,park or here Prairie Trail.It would be helpful if the signs for the trail were more distinct than the typical route signs.Otherwise,before giving up and going back to Algonquin,rolling,hilly and asphalt trail easy ride.
Starting at Ryan Rd on the south, I rode the 28 miles north to Bradley Rd. Some of the route was traditional paved bike path thru parks, but some was along streets called parkways. They were really like subdivision streets but with park land on the river side and houses on the other. I was curious after seeing one location on the path section with a way oversized bridge. My research found these parkway roads to be a portion of an “Emerald Necklace” plan from the 1920’s, mostly built by the CCC in the 1930’s, now pretty much forgotten in Milwaukee County Parks civic life. While easily rideable by my road bike it’s clear that maintenance of these parkways is becoming a fiscal problem. I only have 97 miles to go on the Oak Leaf Trail and I will be coming back.
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