Explore the best rated trails in Richton Park, IL. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Illinois & Michigan Canal State Trail and Tall Grass Greenway Trail. With more than 77 trails covering 844 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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The Thorn Creek Trail offers a paved route traversing woodlands abundant with wildlife through several communities on the southern outskirts of Chicago. The trail travels from Brownwell Woods in...
Blackberry Trail follows a stretch of Blackberry Creek in Montgomery, Illinois. The trail is accessible from the forest preserve entrance at Caliendo Circle. Heading north, the trail reaches Mayfield...
The Fermilab Trail garners its name by running though the campus of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), the former home of the Tevatron particle accelerator. The 3.9-mile particle...
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 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...
In just a few short miles, the Wauponsee Glacial Trail leaves the urban confines of Joliet to bask in open farmland and reclaimed tallgrass prairie where the bison roam again. Named for a glacial lake...
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The northern section of the Tinley Creek Trail is a series of color-coded connected loops and spurs that weave through several forest preserves in Cook County. The 24-mile trail system is paved,...
Just 1 mile long, the Valley Line Trail—also known as the Sauganash Trail—extends between Bryn Mawr Avenue and Devon Avenue in the Chicago neighborhood of Sauganash. Two bridges allow for safe...
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 North Branch Riverwalk is a 0.6 mile biking and walking trail located on Chicago's northside along the North Branch of the Chicago River, nestled between Gordon Tech High School and Lane Tech High...
First-time visitors to the Oak Savannah Trail might be surprised at the profusion of natural areas they’ll encounter as they travel the 9.5 miles between Hobart and Griffith in northern Indiana’s...
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 Palos Heights Bike Trail offers a north-south route through residential and commercial areas on the west side of the community. It's also a key connector between two regionally important...
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 Calumet Trail traverses the south side of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, a unique ecosystem of forest, marsh, dunes and beach along Lake Michigan. This dirt and crushed limestone path...
The Illinois Prairie Path (IPP) was one of the nation’s first rail-trail conversions. It consists of five connected trail segments with three main branches that converge at Volunteer Park (West...
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The Tinley Creek Trail is currently in two segments. This southern segment is within the South Green Belt Forest Preserve between Flossmor and Matteson, just west of I-57. The trail traverses wooded...
The Pennsy Greenway is currently open in three segments between Calumet City, Illinois, and Schererville, Indiana. The northern portion begins at the southern end of the Burnham Greenway in Calumet...
The Chicago Lakefront Trail is aptly named; it spans 19 miles along the shore of Lake Michigan, going right through downtown Chicago and passing many cultural and tourist attractions throughout the...
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 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...
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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....
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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....
Running between the suburbs of Chicago Heights and Joliet, the Old Plank Road Trail offers views of oak trees and sugar maples, prairie grasses, and wildflowers that peek up through the...
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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 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 Joliet Junction Trail is a paved path that travels north–south through the west side of Joliet. It occupies an abandoned Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway corridor that in its last years was known...
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 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 Marquette Trail offers picturesque views of Lake Michigan as it travels through the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. This scenic route follows an abandoned rail line through a variety of diverse...
The Illinois and Michigan Canal State Trail follows the eponymous waterway alongside the Illinois River. It traverses the I&M Canal National Heritage Corridor, designated in 1984 and the first...
The North Branch Riverwalk is a 0.6 mile biking and walking trail located on Chicago's northside along the North Branch of the Chicago River, nestled between Gordon Tech High School and Lane Tech High...
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 Fermilab Trail garners its name by running though the campus of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), the former home of the Tevatron particle accelerator. The 3.9-mile particle...
The Burnham Greenway is composed of two distinct portions that both run along a former railroad corridor between Chicago and Lansing, Illinois. There are plans to extend and connect these short...
This regional trail connects two of DuPage County's forest preserves—Herrick Lake and Danada—on a crushed stone pathway nearly 6 miles long. Together, the preserves cover more than 1,600 acres of...
Just 1 mile long, the Valley Line Trail—also known as the Sauganash Trail—extends between Bryn Mawr Avenue and Devon Avenue in the Chicago neighborhood of Sauganash. Two bridges allow for safe...
The Orland Park Bikeway provides a great connector across the Chicago suburb of Orland Park. On its southern end, the trail begins at W. 159th Street and winds its way through Centennial Park, which...
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...
The Pennsy Greenway is currently open in three segments between Calumet City, Illinois, and Schererville, Indiana. The northern portion begins at the southern end of the Burnham Greenway in Calumet...
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 Marquette Trail offers picturesque views of Lake Michigan as it travels through the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. This scenic route follows an abandoned rail line through a variety of diverse...
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 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...
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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 Virgil L. Gilman Trail travels from quiet forest and prairie lands to bustling neighborhoods in just 11 miles, linking a woodsy community college campus with the eastern Chicago suburb of...
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,...
The northern section of the Tinley Creek Trail is a series of color-coded connected loops and spurs that weave through several forest preserves in Cook County. The 24-mile trail system is paved,...
Little Calumet River Levee Trail stretches from Munster to Gary, Indiana. The trail zigs and zags through a number of local parks including Riverside Park, Wicker Memorial Park, Homestead Park,...
The Pennsy Greenway is currently open in three segments between Calumet City, Illinois, and Schererville, Indiana. The northern portion begins at the southern end of the Burnham Greenway in Calumet...
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 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 Cal-Sag Trail (or, Calumet-Sag Trail) is currently under active construction. As of early 2018, it has a competed section of about 13 miles, stretching from near its western terminus at the John...
The Burnham Greenway is composed of two distinct portions that both run along a former railroad corridor between Chicago and Lansing, Illinois. There are plans to extend and connect these short...
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...
Prairies and dunes are just two of the natural features you’ll experience on the Prairie Duneland Trail, located just a few miles south of the Lake Michigan shoreline and the Indiana Dunes National...
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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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 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 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...
I love this trail. I was SO DISAPPOINTED that the trail was cut off at Willow Springs Road. Now I am wondering if the trail was open from 135th street to
Willow Springs Road.
I am also wondering what kind kind of promise is for the future.
Loved the ride. Few major road crossings but overall nice trail and not overcrowded at all
We enjoyed this trail. We had serpentineed our way from Wheaton to Batavia on the Prarie Path, were a bit tired and seeking a more direct route back. We left the Batavia Spur off the Fox River Trail, cut on a couple of neighborhood streets and entered Fermi on the Western side. (Kirk Rd and Pine Street) we weren't sure we were on a trail, (there was construction at the entrance)...but then we rode through the very interesting Fermi Labs. Nice easy paved trail on the side of the road. The trail took us to Batavia Rd which had a wide sidewalk for riding all the way to Butterfield Rd to pick the Prarie Path back up in Warrenville. A nice reprieve for our sore legs and enjoyable route!
Had my first ride on the IPP since moving to the western suburbs. I started on the main stem around Hillside, going west. Around Villa Park, I took the Wheaton Branch to Prince Crossing Rd, then picked up the Great Western Trail east, back to the main stem. Of the 37 miles I rode, about 95% was crushed limestone. Fortunately, for my first time out, I took a bike with larger tires and fenders. I came across quite a few puddles and muddy spots, and the larger tires handled the limestone well. I might be comfortable doing this ride on a 'cross bike, but I'm not sure how I'd feel taking my road bike out on it. I've seen enough of the Wheaton Spur already; way too many crossings. However, it would be a great stretch for a relaxing/recovery ride, with intensions of dining, or stopping for a beer or coffee. There are several spots one could pull off around Lombard or Glen Ellyn. I also noticed that large portions of that trail had smooth, paved, lightly trafficked roads running parallel to it. But, even managing to use roads whenever possible, all the stops and crossings break up the momentum. Hopefully, other branches of the trail have a more accommodating surface. Though for a crushed limestone path, it was pretty well packed.
Have to cross busy streets on this trail, but otherwise very nice for walking or riding a bike.
Too many damn trees and straight always. No trail markings. Started at essington/ingles and ended up by the starved rock dam...
The 1890’s working Farm is also a nice bonus including gift shop and modern rest rooms.
We have been riding this trail every weekend for 10+ years. However, we took our first ride of the year for 2019 yesterday, and the trail is in bad shape. With the bridge out, there is no way to get on the Centennial Trail from Willow Springs. Is there a plan to repave the trail anytime soon?
I rode this trail yesterday while I had some time to myself. It was in the 30's, with a very light snow falling. That meant that very few people were out on the trail. That also meant it was a great day for a ride. I parked off of Golf Road next to the Black trail, rode south and did two loops on the red trail before returning to the car. The whole ride came to a bit over 17 miles. I probably saw as many animals as people. Three deer were grazing next to the trail, there were a couple of elk out in their fenced in area, and, most concerning, was coming around a corner and hearing an animal noise only to look over and see a skunk poised to spray me! Fortunately I was going past it, not at it, so I came away clean. Probably due to the lack of sun and my unfamiliarity with the Preserve, I never seemed to have a good sense of what direction I was riding. There were plenty of maps, but I just didn't get a feel for it. The environment varied quite a bit from prairie to forest. There had been a recent controlled burn, primarily in the woods, so there was a light smell of fire still in the air. It's definitely a great trail to ride when the people count is low!
The bridge crossing the Des Plaines River at the east end of the trail (Columbia Woods) is still closed. It was originally scheduled to be finished in October of 2018. Here is an update from IDOT:
"The bridge replacement over Des Plaines River in Willow Springs at Columbia Woods started in early summer 2018 and will be completed in late spring 2019. The project was initially delayed due to higher than normal water levels on the Des Plaines River which impacted reconstruction efforts. Also parts of the project were re-designed which effected the overall project timeline. Thank you for your patience."
This trail can be described with one word...WOW!!! As construction nears completion (mostly landscaping) and pedestrian traffic moves onto the pedestrian path there is little to criticize. Awesome views of downtown Chicago and all the amenities of the lakefront make this trail a must do if you're in Chicago! I have only rode from Promontory Point to North Avenue Beach but look forward to riding the trail completely in the near future. Access to Grant Park, Millenium Park, Buckingham Fountain, Chicago River Walk, Northerly Island, Soldier Field, Museum of Science and Industry, Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, and Navy Pier plus numerous beaches along the route. Peak days and times will make the trail busy but there is much to enjoy all around you as you make your way through the hustle and bustle of Chicago and it's magnificent lake front views!
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