Explore the best rated trails in Summit, 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 94 trails covering 984 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 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...
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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...
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...
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The the Fox River Trail (FRT) was built on stretches of three former railroads: Chicago, Aurora & Elgin; Aurora, Elgin, & Fox River Electric; and Chicago & North Western. Today, it hosts a multitude...
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 Bloomingdale Trail, part of “The 606” park system, is a 3-mile, elevated rail-trail on Chicago’s northwest side. Built on a former rail line, the trail sits 17 feet above four of the city’s...
Note: Erosion caused by surging waves off Lake Michigan has caused the trail to collapse in sections. The eastern half of the trail along Lake Michigan is closed indefinitely. See the Chicago 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...
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The western segment of the Great Western Trail in Illinois follows 17 miles of a former railway corridor through DeKalb and Kane counties, between LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve and the town of Sycamore....
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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....
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 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 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 John Husar I&M Canal Trail is the northernmost trail developed on the Illinois & Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor. The Illinois & Michigan Canal provided the final link in the water route...
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 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...
The DeKalb Nature Trail provides a pleasant, tree-lined route in northern DeKalb. Near its western trailhead, it crosses the Kishwaukee River and passes through the Nehring Forest Preserve. Further...
The DeKalb-Sycamore Trail—also known as the Peace Road Trail—parallels the eastern side of Peace Road from DeKalb to Sycamore in northern Illinois. Along the way, you'll pass a mixture of residential...
The Lincolnwood Valley Line Trail connects the existing Valley Line Trail (Sauganash Trail) to the Skokie Valley Trail in Cook County. Like the previous segments, this trail occupies a former Union...
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 Timber Ridge trail is located on the eastern side of the Timber Ridge Forest Preserve in west Chicago. The preserve offers several trails, fishing, picnicking, and is home to Kline Creek Farms,...
Note: Erosion caused by surging waves off Lake Michigan has caused the trail to collapse in sections. The eastern half of the trail along Lake Michigan is closed indefinitely. See the Chicago Park...
The Bloomingdale Trail, part of “The 606” park system, is a 3-mile, elevated rail-trail on Chicago’s northwest side. Built on a former rail line, the trail sits 17 feet above four of the city’s...
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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 North Branch Trail follows the North Branch of the Chicago River over 20 miles through Cook County. The trail was originally a dirt path often used for horseback riding; though it’s now paved, an...
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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 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 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 Lincolnwood Valley Line Trail connects the existing Valley Line Trail (Sauganash Trail) to the Skokie Valley Trail in Cook County. Like the previous segments, this trail occupies a former Union...
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 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 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,...
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 Struckman Boulevard Path is just over a mile long, stretching between Bartlett Road and State Route 59, (although the path narrows from the end of Sunset Park up to the end on SR 59). That said,...
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 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 Hickory Creek Bikeway offers nearly 4 miles of paved pathway through a wooded preserve. On its western end, the trail begins at Hickory Creek Barrens Nature Preserve and Lincolnway Road; on the...
The H.U.M. Trail (a.k.a. the Huntley-Union-Marengo Trail) was planned to link all three of its namesake northern Illinois towns, but so far only connects Marengo and Union. Interestingly, the...
The Grove Road Trail parallels the local thoroughfare in the Village of Oswego, located near the southwestern edge of the Chicagoland metropolitan area. In the north, the trail begins on the east...
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...
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 Struckman Boulevard Path is just over a mile long, stretching between Bartlett Road and State Route 59, (although the path narrows from the end of Sunset Park up to the end on SR 59). That said,...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
As the name suggests, the Lake George trail travels along the north shore of Lake George, turning north at Calumet Ave/US 41 to skirt the east shore of Wolf Lake. From Lake George the trail also heads...
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 North Branch Trail follows the North Branch of the Chicago River over 20 miles through Cook County. The trail was originally a dirt path often used for horseback riding; though it’s now paved, an...
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...
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 Timber Ridge trail is located on the eastern side of the Timber Ridge Forest Preserve in west Chicago. The preserve offers several trails, fishing, picnicking, and is home to Kline Creek Farms,...
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 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 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 Poplar Creek Trail is a 9.5-mile paved loop around Poplar Creek Forest Preserve near Hoffman Estates. The trail has a couple of hills but is otherwise level and makes for a pleasant journey...
The Pennsy Greenway is currently open in two segments between Calumet City, Illinois, and Schererville, Indiana. The northern portion begins at the southern end of the Burnham Greenway in Calumet City...
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,...
Ridgefield Trace currently consists of two short segments open for use. The western section runs from McHenry County College on US 14 in Crystal Lake to just west of N. Oak Street. Active railroad...
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...
I've rode nearly 90% of this trail and enjoyed 100% of it! Definitely not a paved trail as many have noted and a bit muddy in spots (West of Marseilles), you have to appreciate the awesome views this trail has to offer! Small towns spaced every 5-6 miles offer a rich historical past, shopping, dining, many parks, and a glimpse of life as it was back in the days. Plenty of nature to photograph so make sure you bring your camera. The trail can use some much needed maintenance in areas, while other spots offer a flat and firm surface. Recent trees that have fallen over the trail have been cut. At one section between Utica and Ottawa there is a bridge out, but a small wooden plank has been erected to navigate the small creek. Plan an all day ride and you will not be disappointed with the scenic views and fun this trail can offer!
The Fox River Trail is a gem in so many ways. I usually park in Dundee or Geneva, IL. I can go north or south on the trail from either of these towns and get a 24 mile ride in. The towns along the way are just super for stopping for lunch, coffee, shopping and of course ice cream. The trails are so well maintained and there is a scenery change no matter what direction you go. I don't have a favorite direction each one is great. The Fox River is never too far away. I would recommend this trail to everyone and will continue to ride the trail as much as I can. The Fox River Trail also connects to the Illinois Prairie Path which takes you to another great town Wheaton. I park in South Elgin and ride south to connect to the Illinois Prairie Path. Wow! lots of places to eat in Wheaton. Hope everyone gets out and enjoys the Fox River Trail.
What a great trail to just kick back, ride your bike and enjoy the scenery. No pressures of getting lost - well marked trail. If you wind around a couple times through the different spurs you can get quite a few miles in. I loved the day and will return next summer. Herrick Lake is so peaceful.
I try and ride this trail every spring. Great way to get your legs back in shape after a long winter in Illinois. I usually take the main loop around twice. I go one direction and then turn around and go the other way getting a look at the scenery both ways. The main loop is about 8 miles around so I end up getting 16 miles in. The scenery is nice and the trail is well maintained. You are hardly ever riding alone.
I use the southern most part of Trail from Bloomindale Ave up to Ohare mostly. Trail is great, views, water at groves is close, only negative is all dead wood after flooding. I t can sit and block trails for months until its removed.
The bridge that crosses the DesPlaines River at the east end of the trail (along Willow Springs Road) has been replaced and is now open.
2 WOMEN ATTACKED BY MAN WITH HAMMER ON CRYSTAL LAKE BIKE TRAIL 9/24/19 515pm7https://abc7chicago.com/2-women-reportedly-attacked-by-man-with-hammer-on-crystal-lake-bike-trail/5566978/
We rode the main trail and explored a few trails leading off the main trail on our mountain bikes. The only complaint is the lack of water. We are going back in a couple of days to do two loops and try more side trails. We will bring a cooler with our supplies
We came thru off of Batavia Rd and was an easy no traffic ride. Easy loop back to Prairie Path Trail. Headed north on Kirk and is under construction and west side bike trail is terrible going up to Faybian Pkwy.
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