Find the top rated birding trails in Morris, whether you're looking for an easy short birding trail or a long birding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a birding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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Great Sept evening spin, goldenrod, milkweed,rattlesnake master...
But to pause in pedalling made us mosquito fodder. Don't forget repellant!
I have walked this frequently and have had a lot of fun and excitement saw many deer and small animals chipmunks, squirrels and saw a couple of cardinals, I walk this once a day and have a good time met a lot of nice people while walking .
I rode this trail to get my 100 mile ride in from Chicago. I liked it. The other reviews are true, it can be a little bumpy and there were a couple sections that could have been marked better but overall it was nice. There were places the trail seemed to split and I can’t wait to go back to explore where they go.
Remember the big flood? Tornadoes? This trail is maintained as well as possible considering our financial state in this state. The only real problem this year is the collapsed & under repair Morris viaduct that closed the trail. You must ride on the road to Stratton Park, then back on a continuous trail through Lockport. Safe from traffic, beautiful river views, professionally repaired washed out sections plus fairly responsive fallen tree removal keeps the trail ridable. Occasional trees down may require lifting bike over. I try to break off branches to clear a temp path till they cut it up usually withing a week or two.
Some shallow flooding occurs after heavy rains between Ottawa & Marseilles that is still ridable...Appox 2-4 in deep max.
All in all a wonderful fitness ride from Morris to Buffalo Rock.
I ride this trail every chance I get as I train for a triathlon. I ride my road bike on this paved trail and ride the unpaved Illinois-Mich Canal trail on the mountain bike. I am retired and ride multiple times per week.
Negatives: Somewhat rough in sections so I keep tires ~50psi for a smoother ride. Some tricky sections till you get to know the trail.
Positives (too many to list all): Good pavement in most areas, repaving is continuously fixing bad spots. Nice water refill stations plus drinking fountains, washrooms & repair stations with tools and pumps. No need to risk riding with traffic. Nice small climbing hills for a sprint challenge. Well shaded with nice woods & great river views. Very little traffic on weekdays. Weekends are fun & not too crowded. Oswego to Crystal Lake gives a round trip century ride.
These trails are the best in our nation for long fitness rides without mixing with traffic. I feel guilty riding these near empty trails alone. Where is everybody? ;))
The Crown Point section is now GREAT! Smooth new asphalt.
However, the Schererville section is horrendous! pouring a little tar into cracks for many years has not stopped the prolific and gaping cracks!! The Griffith and Highland sections also need repaving also, still a lot of cracks. The Schererville section needs REPAVING; it's the worst.
Maybe they need to stop the snowmobiles on the trail, the quad runners, and the service vehicles from driving on the pavement!
It used to be skateable for roller blades. Now we can't even stand to ride road bikes or a recumbent trike on the trail. Wrist and rear hurting cracks that jar your teeth they hit so hard.
The Cat3 wannabe's still ride on it as there are no bike lanes in Northwest IN to be out on the streets and the people in vehicles expect you to ONLY be on a trail.
Nice scenic path covering 2 creeks and a small bridge. Connects to a longer path if wanting an extended ride. Definitely a few hills but nothing to taxing, especially with the tons of bench's they have directly next to the path you can take a break whenever you like. A bunch of shaded path makes it both beautiful and a great choice on a hotter day.
Started at Dam No 4 Woods and walked to Golf Rd and Big Bend Lake , saw plenty of animals deer, squirrels , chipmunks and beautiful scenery along the trail. Nice peaceful walk plenty to see , nice surface to walk on not muddy saw 1 deer by the 294 underpass and south of Oakton St saw 2 deer in the woods about 20 feet away from me, what a beautiful sight to see a doe and her fawn took pictures of this. It was a beautiful walk and I had a lot of fun.
Decided to do this trail instead of the Old Plank Trail. Much better than the long straight trail. Many winding turns, the loop through the Preserve at the end is a nice turn around spot. Signage could be a little better though.
First off, this is my go-to trail and I love it. However, there are 2 areas of the trail that have been closed too long and I wonder who is responsible for making repairs.
The first is on the south side of Elgin along Raymond St where the path used to run along Poplar Creek and go under a bridge. That portion of the trail has been closed for several years now and nothing appears to be happening with regard to repairs.
Bikers are forced to proceed south on Raymond then right on Riverview Drive and go 2-3 blocks to rejoin the trail. There are no directional signs for users to follow.
The second area is near the South Elgin dam where brush and fallen branches have closed the trail making it necessary to cut across a grassy field adjacent to an industrial area in order to rejoin the trail. Again, no signs are in place to aid bikers to find their way around.
Again I ask who is responsible for repairing these areas?
We live near the southern section of this trail, so we have rode that portion multiple times. It is a night and day difference with the northern portion. The southern end is just not very pleasant. Trail is in poor shape, poor signage and due that section of river, the area is prone to flooding. Viaducts are usually impassable, flora is mostly invasive species, lot of trash , etc etc.
The north end however (maintained by Lake Co. as opposed to Cook Co.) is just great. Well groomed, tons of signage, usable viaducts, clean, etc. This section meanders through forest, open prairie , some farmland. The scenery is beautiful, especially mid summer with the plants in full bloom.
Highly recommend sticking to north of Cook Co. We plan on finishing the entire trail a section at a time until we hit Wisconsin!
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