Find the top rated bike trails in Kearney, 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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The Johnson Lake Hike and Bike Trail is a 10-mile loop around a popular recreational lake in central Nebraska located about 10 miles south of Lexington. The project is nearly complete with 8.3 miles...
Starting at the George Clayton Hall County Park, The Riverway Trail is a straight and flat 4-mile trail, traveling east towards the Platte River. Aside from crossing four intersections, the path is...
The Kearney Hike and Bike Trail spans 13 paved miles through western and southern Kearney, Nebraska. The trail links neighborhoods and businesses with parks and historical sites throughout the city....
The South Locust Street Trail acts like a spur off of the the Riverway Trail. It travels north for a little over a half mile towards Rt. 34. Walmart and Denny's are nearby which makes it a convenient...
The State Street Trail is just under a mile and located northwest in Grand Island. The trail goes east, crossing over Highway 2. It is also connected to the Shoemaker Trail which creates a total...
The Shoemaker Trail gets its name from Shoemaker Elementary School where the path begins. Travelling north and passing Westridge Middle School, it connects with the State Street Trail, creating nearly...
The first mile of the Dannebrog Trail, which completely encircles the town known as the Danish Capital of Nebraska, was paved in late September 1993. The trail runs along and around an abandoned Union...
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The John Brownell Trail, also known as the Beltline Trail, runs for nearly 2.75 miles through residential neighborhoods on an abandoned rail corridor in Grand Island, Nebraska. The trail provides...
The Pheasant Ridge Trail traces the northern shore of Harlan County Lake from just off US 183 in downtown Alma to Methodist Cove. Along the scenic tree-lined route, travelers may catch a glimpse of...
The St. Joe Trail in Grand Island, Nebraska, runs for nearly 3 miles from its connection with the John Brownell Trail at Ada Street to its southern endpoint at George Clayton Hall County Park. For...
The St. Joe Trail in Grand Island, Nebraska, runs for nearly 3 miles from its connection with the John Brownell Trail at Ada Street to its southern endpoint at George Clayton Hall County Park. For...
The John Brownell Trail, also known as the Beltline Trail, runs for nearly 2.75 miles through residential neighborhoods on an abandoned rail corridor in Grand Island, Nebraska. The trail provides...
The South Locust Street Trail acts like a spur off of the the Riverway Trail. It travels north for a little over a half mile towards Rt. 34. Walmart and Denny's are nearby which makes it a convenient...
The Johnson Lake Hike and Bike Trail is a 10-mile loop around a popular recreational lake in central Nebraska located about 10 miles south of Lexington. The project is nearly complete with 8.3 miles...
The Kearney Hike and Bike Trail spans 13 paved miles through western and southern Kearney, Nebraska. The trail links neighborhoods and businesses with parks and historical sites throughout the city....
The first mile of the Dannebrog Trail, which completely encircles the town known as the Danish Capital of Nebraska, was paved in late September 1993. The trail runs along and around an abandoned Union...
The Pheasant Ridge Trail traces the northern shore of Harlan County Lake from just off US 183 in downtown Alma to Methodist Cove. Along the scenic tree-lined route, travelers may catch a glimpse of...
The State Street Trail is just under a mile and located northwest in Grand Island. The trail goes east, crossing over Highway 2. It is also connected to the Shoemaker Trail which creates a total...
The Shoemaker Trail gets its name from Shoemaker Elementary School where the path begins. Travelling north and passing Westridge Middle School, it connects with the State Street Trail, creating nearly...
Starting at the George Clayton Hall County Park, The Riverway Trail is a straight and flat 4-mile trail, traveling east towards the Platte River. Aside from crossing four intersections, the path is...
The Johnson Lake Hike and Bike Trail is a 10-mile loop around a popular recreational lake in central Nebraska located about 10 miles south of Lexington. The project is nearly complete with 8.3 miles...
The Kearney Hike and Bike Trail spans 13 paved miles through western and southern Kearney, Nebraska. The trail links neighborhoods and businesses with parks and historical sites throughout the city....
The Pheasant Ridge Trail traces the northern shore of Harlan County Lake from just off US 183 in downtown Alma to Methodist Cove. Along the scenic tree-lined route, travelers may catch a glimpse of...
The St. Joe Trail in Grand Island, Nebraska, runs for nearly 3 miles from its connection with the John Brownell Trail at Ada Street to its southern endpoint at George Clayton Hall County Park. For...
The John Brownell Trail, also known as the Beltline Trail, runs for nearly 2.75 miles through residential neighborhoods on an abandoned rail corridor in Grand Island, Nebraska. The trail provides...
The State Street Trail is just under a mile and located northwest in Grand Island. The trail goes east, crossing over Highway 2. It is also connected to the Shoemaker Trail which creates a total...
The Shoemaker Trail gets its name from Shoemaker Elementary School where the path begins. Travelling north and passing Westridge Middle School, it connects with the State Street Trail, creating nearly...
Starting at the George Clayton Hall County Park, The Riverway Trail is a straight and flat 4-mile trail, traveling east towards the Platte River. Aside from crossing four intersections, the path is...
The first mile of the Dannebrog Trail, which completely encircles the town known as the Danish Capital of Nebraska, was paved in late September 1993. The trail runs along and around an abandoned Union...
The South Locust Street Trail acts like a spur off of the the Riverway Trail. It travels north for a little over a half mile towards Rt. 34. Walmart and Denny's are nearby which makes it a convenient...
Delightful trail around Johnson Lake. Two short sections on roads. Virtually no traffic. Very enjoyable break on a cross country journey.
We visit family in Kearney at least twice each year and discovered the bike trail on Traillink.com. We are not serious bikers but simply enjoy riding and sight seeing while we get some exercise. So, this trip we packed our folding bikes and rode the entire trail. Like I said, we are not super serious bikers just a retired couple getting exercise.
The trail is very well maintained with water fountains/bottle fill stations at the Arch and Yanney Park. The main trail is completely paved and mostly flat. We normally stay at the Microtel which is right along the trail and makes a good starting point. Highly recommend this trail and the parks in Kearney, they have done a wonderful job developing and maintaining them.
The Pheasant Ridge Trail is a short 3 mile trail lining the north shore of Harlan County Reservoir in Harlan NE. I had the opportunity to ride it while passing through on the way from our Iowa home to visit family in Arizona. It provided a nice break along the way.
The surface is mostly concrete and it was smooth and relatively fast. It's a little hilly, but the hills are easily manageable and offer some nice vistas of the lake.
If you're coming from out of town, the best place to park is in the city park on the east side of US Highway 183 just to the north of the causeway over the reservoir. Parking is free and the trail starts just steps from the lot.
If you want to go a little longer, you might be able to cruise through the campground at the east end of the trail. There's a guard house there but it was closed for the season when I rode here last week so I was able to easily get in. On the way back, I detoured through town. Round trip was a little under 8 miles.
I wouldn't make a special trip here, but if you find yourself in the area, the Pheasant Ridge Trail is a nice resource and pleasant way to spend a little time exploring this beautiful, rural part of America.
This trail is a gem. It crosses the Platte River twice on beautiful bridges. There are shelters with seating along the trail. We even saw a couple of deer running beside us. The trail leaves from the Ft. Kearney Campground and the campground hosts lend campers bicycles for free.
We rode this trail a couple days ago, and were pleasantly surprised at the improvements since our last visit. The trail makes a complete loop around Johnson Lake, with only a few "shared roadway" instances, including a short stretch across the actual dam. In one case, we can see on-going construction to give bikes a separate pathway in the near future, leaving only the dam and the inlet roadways to be shared with vehicle traffic.
Very scenic ride. Many opportunities to stop and rest.
Enjoy.
OK, my previous estimate was off a bit. The actual length of the trail from Ft Kearny trail head to Cottonmill Park trail head is 26.98 mi round trip. Your mileage may vary, especially if you take the time to ride through either/both parks.
Also, the Kearney Hike/Bike Trail is much more than just these two end points. There are many branches off the main line that take you around and through the Kearney area, including Harvey Park, Baldwin Park and Yanney Park.
Enjoy.
The trail is complete from Ft Kearny to Cottonmill Park. Approximately 16 miles, one way.
Ride this trail today. It's in great shape.
As per the previous comment, you can't ride to Fort Kearny, but you can ride to the Platte River Road Archway which is worth a stop.
The trail section that curves along the canal is particularly nice.
My family traveled to Grand Island, NE for a wedding, we planned on camping & stayed at the KOA just outside of town. We had picked up their city magazine & they mentioned nothing about bike trails in the area. So we looked on this site & found quite the extensive set of trails listed, I think in total it's about 20 miles of trails! It's sad that the city doesn't advertise them to visitors, because they're a very beautiful set of trails!
We combined this one with the John Brownell trail as well. We started from Walmart, which is right by the trail-head. The trails are very flat, well maintained, & paved the entire way, so we could have continued on & on, without even realizing how far we had gone! The Riverway trail goes through countryside, & by the Stuhr museum which is very picturesque, but unfortunately was closed for an extensive period of time, so we couldn't visit it. The John Brownell trails weaves through residential areas & goes through several neat city parks.
It's a shame these trails aren't well advertised or well known, because they were a really nice surprise!
You can't get to Fort Kearney on this trail!
I ride the trail three days per week in good weather! It is a safe loop, with dedicated trail options away from the more dangerous stretches of vehicle roadway. The ten mile loop can be easily ridden in one hour.
Along the way are nine really nice rest areas and two gazebos, adding to the scenic settings-- plus two campgrounds and four eateries.
On the way I see families with small children, dedicated bikers, folks walking dogs, trikes, roller blades, and even wheelchairs! Folks who drive to it will not be disappointed!
Chuck Olsen
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