Find the top rated trails in Winnetka, 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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Racine’s southeastern neighborhoods are home to the North Shore Trail, which extends south to the Racine–Kenosha county line. Because Racine County standardized its signs several years ago, you won't...
Moraine Hills State Park Trail offers a wonderful experience for any geology or nature aficionado. A moraine is an accumulation of earth and stones carried and finally deposited by a glacier....
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...
The Oak Savannah Trail takes its name from the unique ecosystem that it runs through. Once pervasive throughout northern Indiana, the oak savannah is a transitional zone between forest and prairie,...
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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...
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...
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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...
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...
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 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,...
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...
The Des Plaines River Trail and Greenway traverses north–south along the route of its namesake river along its course through both Lake and Cook counties. The corridor protects 85% of the riverine...
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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...
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 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 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...
The Lake Geneva Bike Path runs through the scenic resort city, offering connections to many of the community’s amenities. The trail has five unique, color-coded segments. The Blue Route is the...
The Oswego Prairie Trail is a short paved route that occupies an overhead electric utility corridor owned by Commonwealth Edison. The path forms a direct link between two parks in Oswego—Farmington...
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 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...
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...
Moraine Hills State Park Trail offers a wonderful experience for any geology or nature aficionado. A moraine is an accumulation of earth and stones carried and finally deposited by a glacier....
The Thorn Creek Trail offers a paved 17-mile route traversing woodlands abundant with wildlife through several communities on the southern outskirts of Chicago. The trail travels from Brownwell Woods...
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 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 Millennium Trail is a planned 35-mile route through Chicago’s northern suburbs that will connect communities and forest preserves in northwestern Lake County. Currently, 28.5 miles of this...
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 Iron Horse Heritage Trail in Portage, Indiana, runs for 5 miles between Max Mochal Road (SR 149) at the east end and County Line Road near US 20 at the west end. The trail passes through a...
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 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...
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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 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...
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 Cal-Sag Trail (or, Calumet-Sag Trail) is currently under active construction. As of August 2015, it has a competed section of about 10 miles, stretching from near its eventual western terminus to...
Racine’s southeastern neighborhoods are home to the North Shore Trail, which extends south to the Racine–Kenosha county line. Because Racine County standardized its signs several years ago, you won't...
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 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 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...
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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....
The 20-mile Old Plank Road Trail travels over the original Michigan Central Rail Road (MCRR) line, a railroad started about 1850 that ran from Lake Station in East Gary to Joliet. The rail was...
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...
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 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 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...
Open to runners, walkers, bikers and equestrians, the rustic and rural Hebron Trail provides the perfect nature escape. The trail does include a very small section of road that crosses an active rail...
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...
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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 Buffalo Creek Trail makes a loop around the scenic Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve in Long Grove. The crushed-gravel trail provides access to facilities throughout the park. Along the way, you’ll...
Racine’s southeastern neighborhoods are home to the North Shore Trail, which extends south to the Racine–Kenosha county line. Because Racine County standardized its signs several years ago, you won't...
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...
The Thorn Creek Trail offers a paved 17-mile route traversing woodlands abundant with wildlife through several communities on the southern outskirts of Chicago. The trail travels from Brownwell Woods...
The DuPage River Trail spans nearly 30 miles across two counties: DuPage and Will. It's currently open in several disconnected segments mainly in parks and forest preserves beginning in Warrenville...
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...
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...
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 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,...
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 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...
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...
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...
I see a lot of five star reviews and I am guessing those come from people at the north end of this long trail. South of where it crosses Milwaukee Avenue, there are some pretty poor areas. It floods out, there are unsafe road crossings. In one place it comes down to a worn path barely a tire's width. South of Touhy Avenue the surface is uneven with some rocks and old broken asphalt. I ride this trail often because it is the one closest to me, but for the stretch I know, I cannot give this a high rating. The North Branch Trail is much better, a few miles east.
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.
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.
The 606 is amazing. Just the concept itself is unique and beautiful to experience. However, recent crime has made the 606 a no-go for me. Realistically, robberies can happen anywhere at anytime, but the recent uptick in these happening at the 606 has me on edge. If you go, go with another person, go during the day, and keep your wits about you. Pay attention to suspicious people and report any incident or anyone suspicious. This is a rule of thumb for doing anything in the city: just be smart.
I rode the entirety of the trail on 8/21 from Rogers Park to the South Shore Golf Course and back, so a total of a little over 39 miles. While the vast majority of the trail is amazing, there are a few hang ups for anyone looking to take a serious ride. For one, the trail south of the center of the city is in poor condition. Pot holes and cracks are a constant hazard. Secondly, the trail kind of disappears when you get to Navy Pier, and picks back up on the south side of the Chicago River. No designated path for bikes who are forced to share the sidewalk with tourists, pedestrians, and other bikes. It can be a little frustrating. Lastly, the beaches are atrocious to navigate with clueless pedestrians and tourists looking up at the sky, down at their feet, but never behind them to see who is approaching. All that being said, being able to see the city coming from the south side is phenomenal and incomparable to other trails. I highly recommend taking this trail at least once, if only to see the full spectrum of Chicago.
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