Find the top rated walking trails in Monroe, whether you're looking for an easy short walking trail or a long walking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a walking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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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.
When Tommy Tompson was the governor of Wisconsin the state trails were well taken care of, I like to pull a two wheel trailer to carry my tools , food, drinks and extra clothes, the trail surface needs to be mowed in many places, should be graded over with fresh limestone. sandy and washed out spots, this and most Wisconsin trails are no place for thin tire road bikes. They want you to pay to use the trails but do bare minimum and half assed maintenance. there are pit toilets at Albany and Monticello. Do not count on water spigots pack plenty to drink.
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.
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.
Super nice trail! I think I counted 2 cracks. Well marked. Feel free to ride your road bike. Parked on the north end. There are about five parking spots there. Only downside is that it’s quite open which can expose you to wind
I rode today from twining park to the town of Shultz. About 7 miles. The trail was in good shape. It was soft which made the ride a little more work. They just had a lot of rain though. I will come back and ride a different section soon. 3/25/25
Almost spring, mild 60 deg. F sunny day, good day for a bike ride. I started at Bill Fuchs Park, plenty of parking, and rode 12.5 miles to the end of the Great Sauk State Trail via the riverfront for the first third of the trail and then joined up with the Great Sauk trail for the last two thirds of the ride out. The trail is paved and very smooth, with hardly any expansion joints or cracks.
The first part of my ride was a mix of great views of the Wisconsin River and river bottom woods. The trail wound through farm fields and grasslands after leaving the river onto the plains.
I've cycled and jogged this trail since 1986. It eventually links up to the Badger/Jane Adams trails and continues onto Madison to the Capital City Trail or cut off to the Military Ridge Trail.
I've met people that use this trail for hundreds of miles. People from throughout the country. Always safe and people occasionally camp along the trail while hiking. Amazing flora until late October.
I use it as a perfect half marathon training trail. Soft on the knees and legs.
Monticello to New Glarus and back is approx. a perfect 13.1 miles. With
a couple service stations in New Glarus along the trail to refurbish your fluids. Unfortunately, the Stewart is closed and projected to open in 2027.
A short detour on the road needs a little caution on a curved hill. But safe as the road is rarely used.
Nice trail head near Rt. 20.
This was used by myself and my son to train for a marathon and halves.
The shade is great and the same trees and shrubs cut the wind down.
So if you carry your fluids or have someone to cycle along side you, this is the trail you want to train on.
From Rt. 20 to Orangeville and back is approx. 20 miles. With trail on each end if you want to train a greater distance.
The crushed limestone is easy on the feet and legs.
I cycle it dozens of times a month. But training for any event is perfect here.
Rode late September right before official hunting season. Not a lot of people on it. But to be safe, we carried blaze orange. parked at Wes Block trailhead as the long road out from Freeport is just bad trail riding next to an interstate. Trail is dirt, with some repairs and gravel. Rode up to the state line and the Badger Trail out and back. There were some beautiful spots, but also some lone wolves walking the trail looking sketchy and a hunter on an ATV at twilight. If you wanted to do an overnighter up to Madison and back the next day, you could park at the hotel right near the WB trailhead. Not sure I would do this trail again though as it was a long drive for a day ride from the suburbs.
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