Find the top rated mountain biking trails in Dekalb, whether you're looking for an easy short mountain biking trail or a long mountain biking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a mountain biking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
_207962_st.jpg)
After riding 7,000 or so miles since 2019; all over the country (but primarily N IL, Iowa, WI); today is the day I got to enjoy a paved trail in Cook County. We parked in the west and rode to East end in Alsip and back. Roughly 25 miles round trip. Hot humid and windy 92F. I felt like shade was about 50% of trail length. It is a Great trail as in you do not even know you are in one of the busiest counties in the nation. I wish we could figure out how to connect from Alsip to the lakefront. We tried to bike about a mile further east on the road but then it started to seem like an industrial park so we turned around.
My buddy and I rode the trail from Big Hill Park to downtown Janesville yesterday. What a great ride. About 60% of the trail is shaded. The blacktop three miles or so from Janesville is heavily cracked and rough but not too bad. The first 9mi it’s a very smooth trail. We’ll be doing this one again.
I ride on the Prarie Path almost all the time and I love it! Goes by many downtown areas and the places you ride by are pretty nice. I would recommend!
I've been biking this trail for over 30 years at varying degrees of fitness. It is in part, protected from sun with shade and also from wind. This offers a reprieve from really hot days with heavy wind. It can get congested so being aware of others and biking courteously is important. There is pedestrian traffic that occasionally has no clue it's a shared path, as well as the over enthusiastic cyclist that equally behaves rudely. Most people however are genuinely out enjoying nature and each other.
This trail was miserable to ride with a hybrid touring bike. It would be completely unusable on a road bike despite what the trail description may say. The gravel is so bumpy and the trail has been barely maintained. Not much of a surprise in hindsight given the fact that I saw zero other cyclists throughout an entire day riding on this trail. I would only ride this trail again with a fat tire. What is nice though is the trail is very remote and quiet.
I’ve been walking and cycling this trail for most of my life and it’s always a wonderful experience, such beautiful scenery along the river. It’s by far my favorite trail in the Chicagoland area.
Rode the Busse Forest trail on a busy, sunny Saturday morning in late June 2025. The surroundings are terrific but the asphalt has many cracks that made the ride a bit bumpy. Still it is a great ride and I encourage everyone to try it. There are elks there although I didn’t see any.
Rode part of the Prairie Part starting in Warrenville a couple of days after substantial rain in June 2025. The trail had some very minor puddles but was in great shape. When in Warrenville don’t miss the great bike shop where I got some excellent advice about which way to go on the trail. Highly recommend this route. Thanks to the bike shop guys!
I did this trail on bike 2 years ago and I hated it, signage is terrible, at one point after Golf road, you literally come to an end and have to carry your bike over train tracks and active train tracks. No signs of any sort. You go through a campground that confuses you even more. I won’t do it again. To ridiculous.
I started on the West yellow loop. Two routes, either pavement which is terrible or lose gravel which is dangerous. The East side of Quentin is beautiful. New pavement and a nice meadow environment. Short though.
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (a non-profit) and we need your support!
Scan the QR code to get TrailLink on your phone
Map Search
