Find the top rated atv trails in Janesville, whether you're looking for an easy short atv trail or a long atv trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a atv trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Took a road bike from Dawley's Sanctuary on the Capital City Trail east. Took several tries to find the right path through Chicory Hills and I stumbled onto the Cannonball Path at the southeast corner of the Arboretum. Signage is indeed awful here. So many trails and offshoots and no idea where to go! But I headed west on Cannonball until I got the to hub where all the trails come together. I decided to keep going west and did the Military Ridge Trail. It's lovely and paved the first 3 miles, as noted, and the next crushed gravel part is fine for a road bike in dry weather... until about 2 miles past Verona when it becomes much more sandy at Sugar River Wetlands, where I turned around. Next time I will take a hybrid!
Rode from Dawley's Sanctuary on the Capital City Trail east. Took several tries to find the right path through Chicory Hills and I stumbled onto the Cannonball Path at the southeast corner of the Arboretum. Signage is indeed awful here. So many trails and offshoots and no idea where to go! But I headed west on Cannonball until we got the to hub where all the trails come together. I decided to keep going west and did the Military Ridge Trail until about 2 miles past Verona when it became sandy at Sugar River Wetlands, where I turned around. I rode all the way back and took Cannonball into some residential neighborhood near Rosecommon Park and had to use my Spidey sense to fine my way to home base. Cannonball is in great shape, easy ride, shady and lovely. Great for a road bike. Wish it were longer. Probably the best part of the ride.
I had a very nice bike ride on the trail from Elkhorn to the west end of Burlington. Started at the well-marked parking lot just east of Elkhorn, the trail is relatively flat and hard-packed gravel. It passes through farm fields and rich tunnels of greenery. I enjoyed lots of colorful wildflowers and birds along the way. Even glimpsed a beaver that visited the trail near the White River bridge. The creeks and river are well marked, and there are plenty of benches to rest along the way. Took a little side trip off trail in Lyons and visited its veterans memorial at the flag pole, listing its local war heroes dating back to the Spanish-American War. There's a nice coffee shop in Springfield. I rested in its shady yard, but it's only open on weekends. Heading back from the Burlington trail head, I noticed the trail gradually goes uphill, or at least it seemed that way, as I completed the 24-mile round trip on a hot summer day.
Took my road bike to Tutty's trailhead in Freeport. Paved trail is well marked. Ramp out over railway tracks so you have to carry your bike over, but this seems to be in the process of being fixed. End of pavement leads to limestone trail (TURN RIGHT; signs very confusing). This is the best part of the trail. You can still see some railway tracks imbedded in the dirt at crossroads (which are mercifully few). Perfectly lovely trail, lots of trees for cooler ride, straight flat packed earth. Only one person passed by me in 16 miles; no walkers, runners, dogs or other bikes. Peaceful solitude and beautiful rural countryside. The trail was fine for my road bike, but I would not ride here if it were wet or muddy. Can't wait to do the whole thing.
Nice trail. Paved. Green tunnels. Pleasant even on a hot July mid-day. Lots of busy road crossings. 99% cars stopped for crossing, but never sure about that other 1%. DH and I ride a tandem recumbent trike with a wide turn radium and many corners were not wide enough for us in one pass.
I think this is one of the most beautiful trails in the greater Chicago area. I can’t understand why it doesn’t have more reviews! The vistas and wildlife are so varied and interesting in any season and the hills make for a terrific workout. It’s well used by bicyclists, walkers, and runners, but never feels remotely crowded.
As others have noted, this trail really needs some upgrading. We road our gravel bikes 50 miles from Gov. Dodge State Park to Mt. Horeb and back and the first thing I would say is NO ROAD OR COMFORT BIKES. Substrate ranges from paved (in the park) to packed gravel to areas (like outside barneveld) where the trail has been reduced to a loose sand Arroyo that is walking only. Some areas that once were paved are weeded over. This is all sad because this trail goes thru some lovely countryside and has some of the nicest scenery of all the rail trails in the state. If you start at gov. Dodge, please be aware that the path to the Military Ridge though paved, is very steep and those not in good physical shape will have to walk a ways or join the trail somewhere else. Folks with hybrids should be able to manage the shifting terrain but be careful of soft spots and deep gravel. It is well worth the ride but this is a sadly neglected resource .
We decided to bike this trail because it was going to be in the 90s (Fahrenheit) today and we figured it would be mostly shaded. It was mostly shaded with a lot of greenery and a creek that wound back and forth along most of the trail. There were some clouds of bugs but they didn't bite. Many areas of the trail had been filled in with loose fill but the rest of the trail was firm and dry as the weather has been quite hot lately. There is a very clean porta potty near the bike rental place. I'd like to bike the other leg of the trail to Kansasville someday.
Easy ride from Monroe to Mineral Point. Weekends on trail are too busy. Plenty of places to get gas and/or supplies approx every 5-7 miles. DNR and Sheriff always on trail. Trail can have some serious jagged rocks so bring repair kit or spare. Watch out for erosion some serious wash outs in places.
Most of the small towns are very welcoming to atv/utv except Mineral Point (most Mineral Point businesses only take cash) experienced rude and unwelcoming town folk / businesses and an atv route that does not let you drive or park in the business area. You have to park on the atv route which runs on the outskirts of town then just stops at a gas station..you park blocks away and walk in. Most businesses closed during the week in Mineral Point..think they would want, need and welcome the revenue...guess they don't. Bring cash if you decide to visit. Check out Leftys and Ponchos in Monroe great food and people!
Great trail,I have ridden it many times over the past two years.The only problem when you ride is the pedestrians who won't share the trail,and stay to the right so you can pass them.Some people are selfish.There is nothing hard about being considerate.Many people use the trail,it must be shared.
I visited this path on Summer 2017. I loved that path. My, my father and my nephews enjoyed all aspects of the path, the lakes, trees, animals and hills. As one of the visitor mentioned, this path offers a lot to see. We stopped once to see the entire colony of almost 100 turtles (Yes, we stopped long enough to count them) The view amazed us. Because the path follows "one way" only, it annoyed me a bit, but as we were exploring it, I understood the rationale. People had a reason to call it "Moraine Hills." Two way traffic would cause plenty of accidents. However, the those hills really shaped and strengthened our endurance. The step slopes would made simultaneously spit your lungs out on the way up, and on the way down scream from top of your lungs. Excitement and the joy from being on the path resulted in the best memories. Everyone needs to visit this path. I can assure you that I will come back there with pleasure.
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