Find the top rated bike trails in Athens, whether you're looking for an easy short bike trail or a long bike trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a bike trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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We brought along our bikes on our visit to Springfield to ride this trail - it was wonderful! We had beautiful weather. We started at Centennial Park and rode the entire trail. We enjoyed the variety of scenery riding through areas of housing/neighborhoods and rural areas. The trail was extra wide, completely paved and in excellent condition- very well maintained. Kudos to Sangamon County for maintaining this beautiful trail!
One of the plusses about rail trails is the gentle slope in grade .which was totally ruined after the MacArthur I72 interchange I don't know WHY a much simpler tunnel could have been made under the RR retaining the original trail alignment
I rode the trail in late Sept 2024 on a cloudy breezy day. I started at Bass Pro in East Peoria and rode to Morton then back. I didn’t really notice the uphill going out but I did on my return. The trail is in great shape except for a couple miles or so in Morton with some cracks across the trail. I rate it five stars, I enjoyed it a lot. Traveling cyclist Facebook
With construction of the new trail bridge over the Flat Branch starting in September (2024), the trail will soon be restored to its full 14.6-mile length, with access points at the Taylorville Trailhead, Lake Taylorville (Lake Point Veterans Memorial) parking lot, Owaneco, and the Pana Trailhead.
Tired of our local trail, we whimsically traveled the 1.5 hours to check out this trail which is the perfect length for us. My husband rides a float wheel and I have an ebike. We found the trail and bridges nicely maintained and there was very little traffic. It’s a beautiful mix of prairie, fields and forest. We can’t wait to come back and see it in the fall. Perfect!
After riding other trails I was truly disappointed with this one; wouldn’t you know it’s the closest to us and probably the worst! No upkeep whatsoever; it has potential for a nice ride, but there has been no maintenance for quite a while. It says on website that the village of Pana owns it…
This is a beautiful trail! It meanders nearly 6 miles with many gentle curves and hills and very few straightaways. It is almost entirely wooded and runs along the lovely creek most of the way. There are a number of bridges to go over and under. The track itself is clean and in great condition. There are 3-4 manhole covers go watch out for. Thoroughly enjoyed!
Started at Chatham after I found end of trail. There are a few bumps especially around Chatham. There are a few areas that have been patched and are smooth. The trail is closed for now when you go under road near Scheels for construction. The bike manager at Scheels told me the trail was open farther on. Will come back and finish it another time.
This is a real nice trail, but at times it’s more like a sidewalk than a bike trail. There are a lot of pedestrians and many many crosswalks. The trail ends in several different places so it’s a little bit confusing. This is more of a trail system than it is one trail. The trails are in pretty good shape but some of the more lonely stretches there was some broken glass. lonely stretches, have broken glass and things on them so you really need to know where you are going.
Decided to check out this trail on a warm fall day. I rode from Auburn - Divernon-Farmersville-Waggoner which made it around 40 miles round trip. Once I hit Farmersville, the trail was easy to locate at the end of S. Cleveland Street.
The trail passes through some woods and has a few gentle curves at the beginning. A couple benches and a picnic table were just off the trail the first half-mile from Farmersville, presumably for walkers. The trail quickly straightens out and heads south, the old rail line being rather obvious due to the flat, straight, fairly level path. I rode mid-morning, so still had the benefit of shade from the trees that lined either side of the path. At mid-day there would be a lot more sun because those trees would be ineffective in providing shade. I encountered two walkers (photographers, both with cameras) on this Saturday morning. No other cyclists, coming or going, but did catch up to an older gentleman and his wife/lady friend in a 4-wheel-drive Gator. He took up the entire path, and was driving around 5-7 mph, so I was able to pass him on the left by going into the grass. From a distance when I saw the vehicle I assumed it was someone doing maintenance on the trail. But when I passed him, it seemed obvious he was just ignoring the rules about no motorized vehicles.
By the description, the trail used to be asphalt, but now is mostly covered in crushed limestone. It was bumpy in parts ... the emerging weeds, fallen leaves, and limestone made it difficult to see the rough patches, but overall, it was a pretty smooth trail. I probably slowed down a good 2-3 mph from my average speed on the road, mostly due to the crushed gravel surface. I was glad I had let some air out of my 35c tires to make it a more comfortable ride on the bumpy sections.
The trail doesn't appear to be well-maintained ... the weeds are really grown up in parts, and they encroach right at the edge of the trail.
In Waggoner, two diamond-shaped yellow signs that start the trailhead say "Ride at your own risk." Yes, well, anytime you venture out of your house you assume certain risks. Does the highway coming into Main Street say "Drive at your own risk?" They have concrete barriers where the path is interrupted by roadways to deter anything larger than a bicycle on the trail.
The historic depot in Waggoner was locked at 10 am on a Saturday. I didn't see any sign if it has hours that it is open. Also, that building is pretty run down. The sign that says "Waggoner" is really faded and worn. It is no where near the pristine condition shown in the photo from 2013 on this site.
I took a short rest at the gazebo in Waggoner to consume a snack and beverage that I brought. As another reviewer mentioned, there is not even a vending machine in town, so bring any water/snacks with you. Farmersville has places to stop if needed.
All-in-all, a nice, short trail, which is a nice change of pace from always riding on the road. The trail itself has seen better days, to be sure, but still is a decent, ridable trail, one which I will do again.
This trail was overall very nice!! the only issue i had with it personally was that the first bridge i crossed, about a mile in, was blocked off with concrete dividers. thankfully, there were some desire trails going around these, so i was able to walk my bike over the bridge. it was a very long trail, and sometimes i wouldnt be able to find the the path again when it passed through an industrial or residential area, but that wasn’t really a big issue. i was riding my mountain bike, and the path was very clear and easy to ride on. only complaints i have are about the first bridge, and the mile markers were not clear enough, so i didnt really know where i was at.
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