Find the top rated hike trails in Hancock, whether you're looking for an easy short hike trail or a long hike trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a hike trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Trail from Wittenberg to Birnamwood is grass covered crushed limestone. They do cut the grass, but not particularly bike friendly.
We ride trails. We love trails. No pavement required. We embrace the crushed surface. We love to bike. The Omaha trail is surrounded by beautiful scenery. It begins and ends in friendly towns. It was strewn with debris the day after a storm, yet we were undeterred. You can bike around debris. Sadly, you can’t miss the ridges, ruts and roughness of a once paved trail. Omaha stole our energy and joy of riding. We rode on because we don’t quit. But it wasn’t enjoyable and was only memorable for the relief of finishing and knowing we won’t ride Omaha again. It’s unfortunate. The 400 is nearby. It is a far better choice, as is just about any other trail.
I rode the entire trail from Seymour to New London and back in early June 2025. The trail is in super good shape and rideable with a road bike. There was a tree down across the trail about a mile west of Shiocton but easy to maneuver around. A really nice quiet ride in the countryside with no death machines. I rate it five stars. Traveling cyclist Facebook
We’ve done this trail twice and really enjoy it. Was attending a conference in SP and decided to bring bikes along. Weather was perfect for riding so we took advantage and rode this trail. It was wonderful. Love the variety of ‘environments’ you bike through, especially Schmeekle Reserve. The train is well maintained. Only delay was waiting on a train for 45 minutes!!
I did the Wiouwash Trail between downtown Oshkosh and Hortonville over two days while visiting family in the Oshkosh area, and the conditions were pretty great. Prior to this past weekend, I had only ridden the southern half of this segment. If you enjoy a nice (mostly) gravel trail that is very flat, you should have a great time on this one. The trail only had one small sketchy area of about 100 yards just south of County Road II near the gravel yard. Other than that, it's a really smooth trail.
I road a Salsa Fargo on this visit with 29x2.2" tires, but have also done it on an All-City gravel bike with 700x38 tires. Both work just great, and I'm guessing you could easily get by with tires down to 32-ish mm.
There is a nice mix of fields and forested areas along with a few wetland locations. I happened to see quite a few deer, turkey Canada geese, two trumpeter swans and even a couple of Cooper's hawks hunting along the trail, one successfully.
It is probably also worth mentioning that I rode this trail on a Saturday and Sunday in good weather conditions and saw ZERO other bikers, which was more than a little surprising, but there were plenty of people walking dogs at various points along the trail.
Big thumbs up for this trail. Consider getting out to enjoy it if/when you are able.
We had ridden into Elroy from Sparta and realized the 400 trail left from there. We went back to Elroy two days later and rode 11 miles out on the 400. We went through Union and through Wonewoc. We were so impressed with the little town of Wonewoc and the super clean facility they had along the trail, that included a picnic shelter and water fountain along with bike repair stands. The ride itself was very nice. The trail was well cared for and there were many bridges that overlooked very pretty areas. We passed several large rock formations that were impressive. We hope to return to the area so we can ride the entire trail.
We had ridden into Elroy from Sparta and realized the 400 trail left from there. We went back to Elroy two days later and rode 11 miles out on the 400. We went through Union and through Wonewoc. We were so impressed with the little town of Wonewoc and the super clean facility they had along the trail, that included a picnic shelter and water fountain along with bike repair stands. The ride itself was very nice. The trail was well cared for and there were many bridges that overlooked very pretty areas. We passed several large rock formations that were impressive. We hope to return to the area so we can ride the entire trail.
For years, we talked about riding the Elroy to Sparta trail and this summer we finally did it. We were to ride 1/2 of the trail from Sparta towards Elroy and then were going to ride the other 1/2 of the trail from Elroy towards Sparta the following day. However, one of the friends we were going to ride with became ill and my husband and I decided we would go ahead and get part of the ride in. Part way through my husband decided we would ride the whole trail in one day. We entered the first tunnel which required us to walk our bikes, wear our raincoats and use a light. It was very cool. The floor of the tunnel was wet and slippery and before even entering the tunnel I found myself with soaking wet shoes but they dried fast. We stopped just a little further east of the tunnel to use restroom facilities which were clean. On we went into Wilton, which I have to say we were rather unimpressed with. The toilet facility was sorely lacking in cleanliness and we found a picnic table that was none too clean either. We continued on to Elroy and surprisingly I was able to find an Uber ride back to Sparta to pick up our truck with no time to spare as a terrible storm rolled through. Fortunately for my husband, who was waiting for me, was able to find shelter in Elroy at their welcome center. We had brought along with us shower essentials and clean clothes and were able to shower in Elroy. It is free but they do suggest a donation which we were more than happy to do. Some of the highlights were the three tunnels and the remaining overhead structure that had wires that would hang from it to alert those on the top of the train (Hobos and brakeman) the tunnel was ahead. Also, we had a large buck come up onto the trail who did not know we were there. He stood there in all his beauty until he caught sight of us and quickly disappeared into the brush. Overall, I would highly recommend this trail ride. We may do it again.
If you’re looking for a nice quiet ride either segment of the trail is great! The fondy-Rosendale was better than the second half of the trail in my opinion.
One of the best trails I have risen around here so far. Great distance that takes you through all sorts of different scenery and is easy to ride!
The trail has some nice parts , however it goes through town a lot and some parts are not clearly marked which way to go. Some parts are washed out so can be difficult to keep steady in those areas.
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (a non-profit) and we need your support!