Find the top rated trails in Rolling Meadows, 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 Erie Lackawanna (EL) Trail represents the longest contiguous trail in Northwest Indiana, running 17-miles from Crown Point north to Hammond. This trail passes through wetlands and open space on an...
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...
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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...
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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...
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The Fox River Trail features 43 miles of spectacular biking, hiking and cross-country skiing along the scenic Fox River. The paved path can be challenging at times, but the extra pedal pushing is...
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The Prairie Trail—not to be confused with the Illinois Prairie Path—runs border-to-border, entirely within McHenry County, Illinois, and is managed by the McHenry County Conservation District. It is...
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...
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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 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...
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 Long Prairie Trail began life as a section of the Kenosha Division Rail Line in the 1850s, when most small communities in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin were serviced by the...
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 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 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 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 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 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...
Prospect Heights Bike Path runs between Woodland Trails Park and Country Garden Park, paralleling the commuter rail tracks on its northsouth leg. The trail provides a nice off-road route through the...
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,...
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 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 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...
The Kishwaukee-Kiwanis Trail winds through the northern Illinois town of DeKalb, coursing along a river, through woodlands, among open spaces through parks and through suburban back yards. The trail...
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 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...
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The Monon Trail in Lake County, Indiana—not to be confused with the trail of the same name in Indianapolis—links the two Chicago suburbs of Hammond and Munster. The paved trail occupies an abandoned...
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...
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...
The Illinois & Michigan Canal provided the final link in the water route from the east coast to the Gulf of Mexico by connecting Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River via the Illinois River. Today,...
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 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 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....
Traveling along the Wauponsee Glacial Trail, you'll be surprised just how quickly you can move from an urban environment into the rolling fields of the Midwest. Starting in Joliet, within shouting...
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 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...
Baumann Park is adjacent to the Kishwaukee River in Cherry Valley, a community on the outskirts of Rockford in northern Illinois. A paved pathway runs through the park and loops around Baumann Park...
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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 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...
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...
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 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...
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 North Shore Channel Trail extends from the junction of Green Bay Road and McCormick Boulevard in northern Evanston to the junction of Lawrence Avenue and Francisco Avenue in Chicago. All but the...
The Prairie Trail—not to be confused with the Illinois Prairie Path—runs border-to-border, entirely within McHenry County, Illinois, and is managed by the McHenry County Conservation District. It is...
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 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...
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 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...
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...
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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...
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 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 North Shore Bike Path runs for nearly 8 miles between Lake Bluff and Mundelein, paralleling State Route 176 for the path's entire length. The trail is one of dozens in the Chicagoland area, all of...
The Robert McClory Bike Path is notorious for its conglomeration of names over the years. At any given time—and depending on whom you ask—it has been called the Green Bay Trail and the North Shore...
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 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...
Traveling along the Wauponsee Glacial Trail, you'll be surprised just how quickly you can move from an urban environment into the rolling fields of the Midwest. Starting in Joliet, within shouting...
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...
The Kishwaukee-Kiwanis Trail winds through the northern Illinois town of DeKalb, coursing along a river, through woodlands, among open spaces through parks and through suburban back yards. The trail...
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...
I don't know how anyone could rate this anything but 5 stars. There are sections of this trail (Channahon to Ottawa) that are absolutely breathtaking - especially on a warm fall day when the leaves are turning color. There are long sections of the trail where you are riding between two bodies of water and it is absolutely spectacular. Access the train in Channahon and ride northeast toward Ottawa. You will not regret it!
I frequently take the VL Gilman from the access off Terry St. on the west side of Aurora and go west to Bliss Road and exit to ride the country roads west of Route 47. The Gilman Trail is beautiful and many sections are recently paved (within West Aurora) sections.
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.
I started at Custer Park, where there is a small lot for parking. I rode the entire trail on 12SEP17 starting at 7:30 am. I didn't see anyone the first ten miles, but later in the day, I came across fellow bikers as well as runners and hikers. The trail is well kept and mostly shaded. Only about 2 miles of it is paved, the rest is crushed limestone. Although I was riding my mountain bike, it has a thin smooth tread 'commuter' tire on the front. I had zero problems with the trail surface. In fact, I'm fairly certain I could use my road bike on the trail, but I'm not going to risk it. There are benches at irregular intervals for breaks, restrooms, and a couple water fountains. Overall it was a great ride and I'm looking forward to doing it again.
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.
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
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.
Started at Rollins Rd and headed North. It is a nice trail that has some hills that can be challenging for novice riders like me lol. Look out for snakes on the trail, but it is some good scenery and a nice mix of sun and shade.
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 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.
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