Find the top rated hiking trails in Dixon, whether you're looking for an easy short hiking trail or a long hiking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a hiking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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My son and I rode from the visitor center east to the first aqueduct, about 20 miles round trip. It was beautiful day, we took our time, looked for turtles and stopped at a Casey's in Wyanet for lunch. Keeping to a healthy diet I went for sausage pizza, Yoo-hoo and an iced sugar cookie. The trail was rough, and rougher in spots but not a problem on my gravel bike with 40 mm tires. My son rides a Synapse with 35 tires and did it have a problem. If you ride a road bike or prefer smooth trails this might not be for you. we enjoyed it.
Some really pretty parts but a lot of road riding. Started from Cattail Slough Boat Launch (free parking as long as you don’t have a boat trailer attached to your car), rode to Mississippi Pallisades State Park and camped. Rode back the next day. Campground was fantastic and Krumpets Bakery in Fulton should not be missed. The actual trail portions were nice and the Thomson Recreational Area was nice. In Northern Illinois you have to know that there’s going to be a lot of long distance straight sections but this was excessively so. Maybe 35% was trail and 65% road. Happy to say I’ve ridden it but won’t return.
(8/13/2025) - Beautiful day for a ride on the Jane Addams. Trail was in very good condition and it was a smooth ride all the way from Tutty's Crossing in Freeport to the Wisconsin state line (Badger State Trail in WI). Everything was green and lush and the country side scenery was beautiful. The Addams people do a very fine job of maintaining their trail. One of my favorites to ride every year! Highly recommended. Of course, don't forget to stop at Union Dairy afterwards for some delicious ice cream. It's the best.
Just finished riding this trail over four days. They were in the middle of repaving a section which I thought was great but right along route 84 very scary and hazardous.. you either had to walk your bike through the grass, or take your chances on the highway. The trail is poorly marked when you have to take secondary roads to reconnect with the trail, especially when you’re heading towards Moline.. good places to stay very close to the trail and there is no problem finding any place to eat. I’ve ridden it once that will probably be my only time I will ride this trail..
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.
Section between poplar grove and route 76 is getting worse by the day, the chipmunks are taking over and the sharp granite railroad balast is cutting into our tires. No money in illinois budget to repair bicycle trails, the only people enjoying the trail are on those motorized fat tire bikes.
Rode this a year or two ago, and although it was a bit rough, it was enjoyable. Now, not so much. The asphalt trail from the east trailhead to Capron has been replaced with "crushed stone". The crushed stone has baseball sized chunks of asphalt and rock mixed in with it, and 50% of the rest are chunks bigger than an inch across. Barely passable on a gravel bike, if you find the right rut on the path. No way a road bike is making it down this stretch. Once you get to Capron, it's back to asphalt for a short bit, then it changes to gravel / crushed limestone. Some of the bridge crossing can be bone jarring, but not overwhelming. It changes back to asphalt outside of Poplar Grove, and continues all the way through to Caledonia. Some potholes can be pretty harsh, but not terrible. At some point between Poplar Grove and Caledonia, it turns back to gravel for a stretch. Although not my favorite, this was done well enough for our gravel bikes. We usually do this trail either from the east trailhead to Caledonia, or Caledonia into Roscoe, as there's a rest stop & parking in Caledonia. If you park on the street in Capron, and skip the first 2 miles, you'll be a lot better off. Although there's no water / bathrooms in Capron, there's a Casey's just down the street from the trail.
the 14.2 mile rail trail was a great trail 20 plus years ago, over the years a lack of state oversight allowed the trail to fall into a state of disrepair, the trail can no longer be roller bladed or skate boarded, about a decade ago they dug up the east section and most of it is crushed lime stone that the grass and weeds are now growing through, in places they ground up the asphalt and used it in place of limestone( horrible to ride on ). the section from route 76 to poplar grove was ground up last year and graded out and is now a section that will tear up road bike tires, there is sharp granite stones from the original rail bed mixed in with the ground up asphalt, the condition of this trail is only going to get worse due to the county not having two Nichols to rub together. If you put a child in a trailer behind you they will wind up with brain damage on the sections that still have pavement. I will say to politicians that it is asinine to allocate funds for new bike trail projects when they cannot provide funds for their future maintenance.
This is such a cool trail corridor, but it's a bit of an adventure to ride it. The scenery is great--there's some neat canal lock remains, the trail has lots of shade, and there aren't a lot of road crossings. It's also nice that the trail passes through several towns, so there are good opportunities for meals or snacks. The trail itself is just okay. It is mostly dirt, with a little gravel, and is rather over-grown for large sections. Many sections are basically single track--keep your wheels on the narrow dirt trail and it's smooth, but it's grass and weeds close on either side. Probably not a good ride for narrow tires or trikes. We went a few miles past Ottawa to ride into Buffalo Rock State Park, the trail west of Ottawa was a bit better. Overall it was a good ride and I'd do it again, but go in knowing that it isn't a smooth wide trail.
We rode from Albany to Fulton. There’s minimal signage along the way so we stopped a lot to check our app. Not great trail along the way. Will skip this portion as a repeat ride.
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