Explore the best rated trails in Wheaton, 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 120 trails covering 4839 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.
note: the trail shown in red is the regional trail. it overlaps with the Waterfall Glen Main Trail except for a couple of areas. Be sure to read the Trail Markers
Started in McHenry and went south. Did 33 miles round trip. McHenry to Crystal Lake lots of ruts and bumpy. Just north of Crystal Lake becomes a new, very smooth trail, but is extremely hilly with lots of turns. After going through a small section of downtown Crystal Lake becomes not as hilly to Algonquin.
Parked at the West end in the WalMart parking lot. Entire trail is paved and is mostly flat with some gentle inclines. The first 4.5 miles is along Northwest Hwy (rte 14). This entire section is full of litter either in the grass between the road and path or along the farm fields. SO much garbage. The path turns towards Veteran's park in Crystal Lake just past MCC. The last 2.5 miles is along the high voltage lines that you can hear buzzing. Great path if you are commuting to and from MCC but not a pleasant path for an afternoon ride.
The 10-mile stretch of the trail from st. charles to elgin is mostly asphalt with a few short lengths that are crushed stone. The trail is in good shape generally with hardly any heavings in the pavement. The scenery is mostly natural woods and very scenic. Between st. charles and the town of south elgin the river takes a big bend around a high bluff and the trail goes down a long hill as you travel north and over 2 bridges. Near the town of south elgin there is a trolley museum with tracks alongside the trail that working trolleys use on the weekends. Between south elgin and elgin there are many hilly sections. It can be a challenging but worthwhile ride.
Ok section, kind of dull. Agriculture & cows. Found a bit of shade by a grain elevator for lunch. Several washouts filled with tumbleweeds as you get closer to Lind.
Please note that the public is not allowed to pass through Fermilab. Rather, you must exit Fermilab through the same entrance that you arrived at Fermilab. Here is a formal quote from the Fermilab web site.
https://www.fnal.gov/pub/community/
“The public must not pass through Fermilab, but rather leave by the same entrance through which they arrived.”
trail is in great shape. from villa park westward it goes through residential areas with many road crossings with a bridge over the railroad/highway in lombard. but after that there are few crossings and a natural landscape.
although not shown on the trail map, there is now a trail connection just east of prince crossing road that goes north along the west branch of dupage river and fair oaks road which leads to the north central dupage regional trail at schick road.
rode the trail on 11/2/2024 roundtrip from manhattan road (mile 7) to the kankakee river (mile 22) . it was in good shape almost the whole length and without loose gravel anywhere.
Like all rails to trails, a good connector for locals but for bike touring, tedious. Boring, straight, only a few peeks of rolling farm land to catch your eye, when it wasn't on the trail - immediately in front of you. Sections of the trail are in jaw-jarring condition. Beware: with leaf litter you can not see the periodic holes, non existent bridge transitions, broken asphalt...you get idea. Sad that some entity can not repair these hazards. We def would not continue west, beyond Poplar Grove. Our bodies can't take it!
We started in Akron and rode about 18 miles north. Loved it!!!
Short trail especially for cyclists, more so a commuter trail. Expect a slow and someone densely populated ride, but excellent views of the neighborhoods.
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