Find the top rated cross country skiing trails in Madison, whether you're looking for an easy short cross country skiing trail or a long cross country skiing trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a cross country skiing trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Not as much shade as other Greenways , still a great experience! Best in Early spring and Fall. I don't mind hot weather, but some don't. Enjoy!
We have ridden this trail 4 or 5 times in the past and we have really enjoyed it, but not this time. We started at the caboose in town and headed north on the trail. It was very rough. Lots of tree limbs and debris. There were large rocks that made the going very tough. Looks like someone has stopped maintaining the trail. We made it to the northern end after a very rough ride. We decided that we just couldn't head back on the trail so we rode the road back into Elkmont.
We were so disappointed in the trail that we did not try the southern part. We just drove the 2 hours back home.
It is a shame because we have enjoyed the trail in the past. We won't come back unless something is done for the trail.
A nice little Greenway, failed only by any interesting structure. Kinda feels like your riding in someone’s back yard. Great if you live in one of the connecting subdivisions; but a bit boring.
Outstanding family venue. Plenty of places for kids to play in the water, enjoy the nature park and it’s playgrounds and ride about 9 miles of Greenway. Restrooms in the park are rare for Huntsville’s greenways. Even my daughter said “Good find, dad!” I’ll take that. You can park at either end, or at Hays in the middle.
A jewel among Huntsville greenways, Aldridge is level, clean, safe, and relatively entertaining. You’ll want selfies at the bridges and train trestle. In all a good 10 mile round trip along the Creek.
Swan Creek Trail is a well maintained bike/walk/run trail in Athens, AL. Nice natural features like the creek with small noisy rapids and interesting man made ramps and bridges. Trail travels under all major roads for maximum safety. Good mix of sun and shade connecting Athens shopping to tennis, ball and soccer facilities. Enjoy this quick pit stop with even your smallest or oldest family members and pets.
Beautiful views, a couple of bridges and plenty of wildlife. Great first ride for my wife and I.
My husband walked this trail with me twice before he realized that, at points, it is flanked on either side with houses. It’s that easy to forget you’re in the city. Parking is ample and easy to access if using the lot attached to the elementary school property. (Cannot speak for the other) Everyone I have met has been as nice as could be and with a pretty flat and well shaded path it’s a delight.
I'm late with this review, but the previous two reviews prompted me to add mine now. I went for my third on this trail in late 2017. As my earlier reviews stated, I had really nice rides. But not this one. I started at the northern trailhead and only went maybe a couple of miles before turning back because the trail was in such horrible shape. As stated in the two previous reviews by markmoore and Old Terry, there were lots of very large rocks to contend with which made the ride very unpleasant. I kept waiting for signs that things were going to get better, but that didn't happen and finally I just gave it up and turned back and got on the road alongside the trail as soon as possible. I had driven over an hour to get there, so I was quite disappointed. The short stretch of trail on the north end between the trailhead and the woods has always been the roughest section, but it was tolerable. But this time it was really bad even far into the woods. Apparently no trail maintenance at all had been done for quite some time. As the Mad Tweeter might say - Sad!
I would like to try the trail again sometime this year, but will not unless I know it will be in better shape for biking. Hopefully someone can give an update here on the condition of the trail at the north end.
Oh, and there are indeed dogs again at the house by the trailhead. They were in a fenced-in yard and I don't recall having any problems with them - not even being barked at - but they are there again.
It is listed as 10.2 but my GPS came up with 11 miles (22 round trip). It is a good one for solitude for sure. The small town of Elmont is basically right in the middle and makes for a nice rest stop. Except for Elkmont, AL and a couple of covered bridges there isn't much diversity along the entire trail. It's a 1 1/2 hour drive for me so I probably wont be back unless more is added to it.
I started at the Tennessee line TH and went to Athens and back. Within the first 1/4 mile a big black dog ran at me from the front of a house. He didn't have the cardio to keep up but something to watch for when near the Tennessee TH.
The path is compacted gravel like a driveway that's seen lots of use. The Athens half is pretty smooth but I was glad to be on a mountain bike for the other half. Occasional rough spots to beware of with some random big chunky rocks.
There was one road crossing I wasn't sure where the trail went and had to break out the phone to view the trail. Turned out it was straight across the road but hard to be sure because it was more grass than gravel. A little trail blaze would be nice there.
Rode today (Sept. 8, 2017) from the start in Athens to the end at the Tennessee state line and return to Athens. Very enjoyable with plenty of solitude. This type of trail will keep you on your toes as you must look carefully for obstacles (limbs, ruts and one area that had numerous loose fist sized chunks of rock). Very enjoyable trail to ride but I would advise caution.
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