Find the top rated trails in West Bend, 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 WE Energies Trail, so named because it uses a Wisconsin Energy Corporation utility corridor for much of its route, links Racine and Oak Creek in Racine and Milwaukee counties. Despite the presence...
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...
Meadowbrook Trail parallels Meadowbrook Road offering a useful and convenient off-road route through northwest Waukesha. It begins at a connection to Lake Country Recreation Trail, a 15-mile east-west...
Located in Sheboygan at the South Pier, the Lakefront Bike Path begins off Indiana Avenue and connects on to the Pier Boardwalk. The trail is right off the shores so users have a pleasant ride or walk...
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...
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...
The Wild Goose State Trail is a premier rail-trail, spanning approximately 35 miles in Dodge and Fond du Lac counties. If you are looking for a peaceful and beautiful place to visit, this trail has it...
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 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 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...
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The Downtown Trail—also known as the River Trail and Riverwalk Trail—runs alongside the Fond du Lac River for nearly 2 miles in the heart of Fond du Lac. The vast majority of the trail is smooth...
The Peebles Trail is a nearly 6-mile pathway, linking Fond du Lac at the southern edge of Lake Winnebago with St. Peter (Taycheedah) to its east. The trail also passes through the unincorporated...
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The Old Plank Road Trail parallels State Route 23—a road originally built out of wooden planks in the 1800s—from the western edge of Sheboygan to the Village of Greenbush. The trail was one of the...
Note: In 2015, portions of the Lake Country Trail will be temporarily closed as part of the Quad County Electric Reliability Project; please see the American Transmission Company’s website for updates...
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 53-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 Oak Leaf Trail is the jewel in the crown of Milwaukee County’s extensive trail system. The trail meanders for more than 120 miles in and around the city of Milwaukee on a changing terrain of flat...
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...
Wisconsin’s Wiouwash State Trail is named for the four counties it passes through: Winnebago, Outagamie, Waupaca and Shawano. Currently, 41 miles of the rail-trail are open in two disconnected...
The Kohler Memorial Drive Path is a straight paved path that rides adjacent to the Kohler Memorial Drive. Starting at the American Red Cross, you can ride for just under a mile on the outskirts of the...
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...
Located in Sheboygan at the South Pier, the Lakefront Bike Path begins off Indiana Avenue and connects on to the Pier Boardwalk. The trail is right off the shores so users have a pleasant ride or walk...
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 Sheboygan Interurban Trail follows the route of an electric railway that once ran between Milwaukee and Sheboygan from the early 1900s to 1951. The trail begins at Pebble Beach Road on the Ozaukee...
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 Mascoutin Valley State Trail is divided into two segments along a former corridor of the Chicago and North Western Railway. The eastern section runs 10 miles between Fond du Lac and Rosendale. The...
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...
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The Fox River Trail runs diagonally along its namesake waterway through Waukesha in southeastern Wisconsin (just outside of Milwaukee). A trailhead at the E.B. Shurts Environmental Education Center in...
The Oak Leaf Trail is the jewel in the crown of Milwaukee County’s extensive trail system. The trail meanders for more than 120 miles in and around the city of Milwaukee on a changing terrain of flat...
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The Lake to Lake Bike Trail takes you through the beautiful terrain of the Kettle Moraine State Forest. It is a newer, well-maintained trail, with a wide, crushed limestone roadbed. It is used daily...
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The Prairie Trail offers a paved route of nearly 7 miles along the eastern boundary of Fond du Lac, a mid-sized city befitting its French name which means “foot of the lake” as it hugs the southern...
The Shoreland 400 Rail Trail opened in 2013 on a former Union Pacific Railroad corridor through the heart of Sheboygan. More than 30% of Sheboygan County’s residents live within a mile of the trail,...
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...
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 paved New Berlin Recreation Trail runs straight as an east–west compass bearing for 7 miles through the western Milwaukee suburbs, from New Berlin to Waukesha. While it is void of trestles,...
In 1957, baseball legend Hank “The Hammer” Aaron led the Milwaukee Braves to the first of two consecutive World Series appearances and a championship over the usually dominant New York Yankees. In...
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,...
The Old Plank Road Trail parallels State Route 23—a road originally built out of wooden planks in the 1800s—from the western edge of Sheboygan to the Village of Greenbush. The trail was one of the...
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 Peebles Trail is a nearly 6-mile pathway, linking Fond du Lac at the southern edge of Lake Winnebago with St. Peter (Taycheedah) to its east. The trail also passes through the unincorporated...
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,...
Fond du Lac's Brooke Street Trail follows a former rail corridor from the community's southern reaches to an endpoint not far from scenic Lake Winnebago. The city's location relative to the lake,...
The Northwestern Trail begins near the public library in downtown Ripon, a charming small town in eastern Wisconsin. History buffs may want to head a few blocks south from this endpoint to explore the...
Located in Sheboygan at the South Pier, the Lakefront Bike Path begins off Indiana Avenue and connects on to the Pier Boardwalk. The trail is right off the shores so users have a pleasant ride or walk...
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...
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 Fox River Trail runs diagonally along its namesake waterway through Waukesha in southeastern Wisconsin (just outside of Milwaukee). A trailhead at the E.B. Shurts Environmental Education Center in...
The Prairie Trail offers a paved route of nearly 7 miles along the eastern boundary of Fond du Lac, a mid-sized city befitting its French name which means “foot of the lake” as it hugs the southern...
Note: In 2015, portions of the Lake Country Trail will be temporarily closed as part of the Quad County Electric Reliability Project; please see the American Transmission Company’s website for updates...
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 Sheboygan Interurban Trail follows the route of an electric railway that once ran between Milwaukee and Sheboygan from the early 1900s to 1951. The trail begins at Pebble Beach Road on the Ozaukee...
The 53-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 Mascoutin Valley State Trail is divided into two segments along a former corridor of the Chicago and North Western Railway. The eastern section runs 10 miles between Fond du Lac and Rosendale. 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,...
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 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 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 Old Plank Road Trail parallels State Route 23—a road originally built out of wooden planks in the 1800s—from the western edge of Sheboygan to the Village of Greenbush. The trail was one of the...
The Downtown Trail—also known as the River Trail and Riverwalk Trail—runs alongside the Fond du Lac River for nearly 2 miles in the heart of Fond du Lac. The vast majority of the trail is smooth...
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...
I live about 20 miles from Burlington, WI in Racine County where the Seven Waters Bike Trail starts at Riverside Park and heads north for 17 miles, which made for a nice day out and back on August 6, 2017 on the bike trail. However the trail is not signed as the “Seven Waters Bike Trail “as one mostly needs to follow “Bike Route” signs. Keep your eye out for those signs as the trail ties together many types of route characteristics and surfaces: isolated old RR grades, on road shoulders, along active roads, and thru parks-some sections are paved, some gravel and some asphalt road grindings in Waukesha County (sort of rough). But it’s all manageable and enjoyable. At the north end of the trail one can continue on a paved path alongside of County Highway OO to be very close to reach either the Muskego Recreational Trail to head west or the City of Franklin Hike & Bike Trail to head east. There are services along the way if you look for them.
Five miles north of the eastern terminus of Old Plank Road Trail is another bike trail at Quarry Park. It is not paved, but it is beautiful! It runs alongside the Pigeon River all the way to 21st Street. There is a beautiful water-filled stone quarry with beach, a spring-fed stream, and a well-manicured forest used for frisbee golf along the path.
There is a beautiful off-road experience waiting for you near the north end of the trail between Terry Andrae Road and Stahl Road. Park the bike or car there in the pulloff and enjoy a meadow and woodland experience. Almost all trails eventually loop back to within 100 yards of the start. You will see the Black River Forest and some of the plants and animals that call it home. It is occasionally used as a horse trail, so watch your step. I will attach photos.
These comments refer to the northern portion of the trail from Birnamwood to Eland. The trail is in good shape except for a few soft sports but should be easily negotiable by bikes with 32 mm tires. The trail doesn't appear to be heavily used. I met no other riders. Looking at Google Earth it would appear that the trail could be extended on the abandoned rail line the approximately 17 miles to Antigo. A possible project for Rail-to-Trails Conservancy?
This trail is hilly! If you have a road bike, it's challenging. I have a hybrid and it was fun, but very challenging. Windy, slow climbs and some pretty good sized hills. We loved the scenery, and the work out.
Loved this trail. 20 miles of rolling hills. Nothing too strenuous. Very enjoyable ride from Sheboygan to Plymouth and back. Liked crossing the roads is set up - safe and easy.
This was the first time my hubby and I used this Trail. We went out and back 25 miles total, starting from the southern end near Riverside Park in Burlington. As a couple people mentioned, the crushed gravel up front was rutted and loose in some areas, not the easiest to pedal through. That said, the weather was beautiful, and the next ten miles of the trail was good; varied and interesting scenery, with sloping hills and shady woods. Nice ride!
I rode this trail more than 25 years ago, and its even better now. It's a well-kept, smooth blacktop trail that runs through woods, small towns and scenic woodlands. But it's biggest flaw is the lack of directional signs. With many crossroads running diagonally, rather than east-west, north-south, it's easy to get confused. Just a few signs saying something like "4 miles to Sussex" would make all the difference. The short spur trail to Menomonee Park just outside of Lannon is well worth the trip. There they have a large map of the Bugline trail. It's the only one I saw on the trail giving any directions. There's even a free air station for bikes in the park. Just add some directional signs, and this would be a first class bike trail.
The Oak Leaf Trail has so many branches and so many good places to ride. I was riding the Grant Park-South Shore section since I was a kid when it was the 76 trail. We ride that section a lot still but it can be crowded with bikes, runners, and walkers. Most bikers are polite and understand the need to ride single file, but it seems like a lot of groups when there are more than a few just don't get it. One of the best things is riding from Grant Park to the South Shore Beer Garden!
We also ride from Drexel Ave. to County Line Rd. Beautiful, especially once you get south of Ryan Rd.
Another leg we enjoy is from the Milwaukee County Sports Complex on Ryan Road to Whitnall Park, especially now that there's a permanent beer garden there as well. On this leg of the trail once you get about 1/4 mile north of the sports complex it follows the Root River. You hardly see any houses or busy roads and you really feel like you're out in the sticks.
I rode from Riverside Park in Burlington to Highway 164, north of Waterford today, a round trip of nearly 20 miles. The trail goes northward towards Milwaukee County, skirting the Fox River and Highway 36. While Riverside Park itself is nice, the trail north of it had a loose gravel bed, full of ruts, and follows a Wisconsin Electric right of way along Highway 36. After crossing the highway, the trail improves dramatically when it goes through Saller Woods. It has a new hard-packed gravel surface that is a pleasure to ride. North of there, the trail crosses the wide Fox River on its own scenic bridge-- a good place to take a water stop. Approaching Rochester, the trail becomes blacktopped and is smooth and scenic. Case Eagle county park is especially nice, and I stopped by the banks of the Fox River, which is scenic above and below a dam. In Waterford, I discovered Java Jo'z, a coffee house in an industrial park just off the Highway 20 and 36 intersection. It's a good place to stop for iced Americano coffee and home-made sandwiches and fruit smoothies, with a friendly, homey atmosphere. The trail north of there is on hard-packed gravel and goes through wooded area next to peaceful neighborhoods. I turned around at the Highway 164 crossing and headed back. So, if you want to ride the very best part of this trail, there is plenty of parking near Java Jo'z in Waterford and a trail parking lot off Highway 36 at the entrance to Saller Woods.
I rode a southern leg of the trail from Oak Creek to the Racine County line and back. There's marked street parking on Drexel Avenue, where the trail intersects. The trail is wide and blacktopped all the way south through well-kept neighborhoods and wildflower fields. There are some minor hills in Oak Creek, as the trail dips down and then rises back up as it crosses roads. The trail heads east for a while along Ryan Road until it continues south through scenic wetlands to County Line Road, where there is a parking lot and conservancy hiking trails across the road.. I took a ride along County Line Road westward, skirting the Root River, and connected with a trail spur that continued west to Howell Avenue. I stopped there, but met a bicyclist who said that the trail now continues into an industrial park for a mile or two. But I retraced my tracks back to my car at Drexel Avenue. The hills in Oak Creek seemed a little harder on the way back. But all in all, it was a pleasant 16 mile round trip on a summer day.
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