Find the top rated wheelchair accessible trails in Racine, whether you're looking for an easy short wheelchair accessible trail or a long wheelchair accessible trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a wheelchair accessible trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Busse Forest Nature Preserve is a slice of tranquility completely surrounded by the chaos of highways and the hectic, hurry up conditions of suburbia. It's like a mini Central Park, but in the burbs of Chicago. If I was fortunate to have something like this near my home in my metropolis of southern California I'd be hiking, biking, or fishing it every day!
Since I as staying at the Hampton Inn in Schaumberg, I simply rode my bike down the Schaumberg Bikeway alongside Woodfield Road for about a half mile to access the park.
It was shortly after sunrise on a chilly weekday morning in early October as I entered the serenity of the preserve and its forests, lakes, and large grassy areas. I was joined by dog walkers, joggers, fishermen, bicyclists, a rollerblader, and hundreds of geese.
The treelined paths were carpeted with golden leaves, and many large flocks of geese called many of the grassy areas home. I was fortunate enough to see and hear a massive bull elk making its wailing, bugle-like call in an attempt to entice two cows he was near to get cozy with him.
All in all, Busse Woods Trail is a delightful system of curvy trails, dense woods, large swaths of lawn, and beautiful lakes. What a precious gem for the communities of the burbs and this lucky visitor from SoCal!
On a perfect weekday morning in early October I experienced by bicycle the South Shore portion of the Oak Leaf Trail.
I parked in the Grant Park Beach parking lot in South Milwaukee and headed north to Cupertino Park and then back, a distance of about twelve miles. Even though it was such a short ride it took me over two hours since I had to frequently stop for the awesome photo ops. The views of the lake and the Milwaukee skyline are sensational!
The trail is obviously beloved by the community. Not only were there plenty of other bicyclists, but there were a tremendous amount of friendly pedestrians walking their dogs or getting their steps in, especially in Bay View Park.
The South Shore portion of the trail has so much to offer: woods, tree lined streets with charming homes, wildflowers, squirrels, geese, shoreline, lots of curves, five parks, yachts, and plenty of benches to take in the marvelous views of Lake Michigan and the downtown skyline. Besides the lake views, I especially enjoyed the curvy trail covered in golden leaves through the woods of Grant Park.
TWO WORDS OF WARNING:
1) There are hills.
2) There are cracked and uplifted portions of trail through the woods of Grant Park due to tree roots. They will effectively work like speed bumps and slow you down a bit.
However, all in all, this is an enjoyable ride and certainly worthy of your time and five stars!
trail is in perfect condition and while there were a fair number of users, it was never crowded or congested on this saturday morning. It was a joy to ride roundtrip from menomonee falls to north lake. The only steep hill is in merton just east of dorn road. The small towns of sussex and lannon have some taverns that look interesting. Menomonee park above the north part of the trail just west of lannon road is worth a visit.
Once a great hiking preserve no not so much. It is evident that funding just isn’t there for a quality site like other county trails. They still have a chain link fence blocking off an area damaged years ago which looks like an excuse to no maintain and save money. As it’s been under repair for a good 10 years. Deer grove was my backyard growing up and it was an amazing preserve it’s sad to say that it is no more
One of the best trails in Milwaukee area. Very scenic , beautifully paved . Stop in Dousman at Bicycle Doctor store. Great staff and a lot to look at !!
Great trail for walk surface and natural sites.
15 mph bike speed limit is like "No dunking" signs at a basketball court.
This bike path was once was a great safe car-free detour for road cyclists traveling north from Chicago, bypassing busy Ridge/Sheridan Rd.
With the addition of 15 mph speed limit signs and people yelling "slow down" and shaking their fists constantly to anyone in lycra, it's become clear cyclists are no longer welcome on the "trail".
It's so unfortunate that people behind a bike path would work actively to discourage cyclists from using it.
If you're a seasoned cyclist looking to get training in I suggest avoiding unless it's late fall, winter, or early spring.
I really enjoyed my ride today! Started at Meyer Park in Wind Lake. I parked facing the baseball fields; bathroom building on the left, trail followed the baseball field around to the right. The connection to the main trail wasn't far. This is the one place the sign said Seven Waters Bike Trail. I turned right to head toward Burlington. It was crushed limestone but very packed down. My hybrid handled it great and I feel like road tires would be fine. The tail end of the crushed limestone section became crushed asphalt like someone else mentioned in their review. It's not as packed down; thicker, but still totally fine with the hybrid tires. I don't know how this section would be with road tires but it was also not very long. Once you hit Bunker bar on Beck Dr, it's paved all the way to N Browns Lake Dr which is south of Case Eagle Park in Rochester (it's probably paved further; this was where I turned around). There's a small road stretch at Beck Dr and it was clearly marked "Bicycle Route." Case Eagle Park is a great rest stop and again, had good signage. It has bathrooms, dog park, kayak/canoe launch; the river is right there and pretty for a pit stop. People were walking in the rocky section of the river and even fishing. All the trail signs (minus the one at Meyer Park) said Racine County Bicycle Trail. It's flat for the most part. I'm not super in shape and have taken just a few flat bike rides this summer, and this roundtrip of 14m was pretty easy. It was a warm day with a breeze. I felt there were a lot of shady parts on the trail. It was a Saturday afternoon in August and I passed some people but for the most part, I was the only one around (it was not crowded by any means). I will most likely do this again. I liked the variety with the scenery, the bridges, and that you ride through towns and a park for bathroom stops if needed. I felt plenty safe. I agree the map on the trail was not readable; the bike trail portion is completely faded. I just used Google maps because it detects the trail. Meyer Park where I ended also has a playground, pitching cages, and it looks like you can rent the barn for parties. Nice place!
Biked this trail twice over the weekend. Started both from Independence Park. First day went north to the Wisconsin state line, almost. Second day went south to Libertyville. Fun rides with no one on the northern loop on a Friday afternoon. Sunday on the southern loop was more crowded. The two negatives are the complete lack of restrooms down to libertyville. If there are any they are not marked from the trail. The other negative was riding crushed rock on a road bike. Was not prepared for that and hit a few soft spots that tried to suck me down. I prevailed and managed around 68 miles for the two rides.
I started at Clark Park and was able to take trails/greenways all the way to the trailhead without any issues! There are some bumpy parts on the southern end, but it is well worth it to bypass all the busy roads. As of August 2023 some parts are under construction, but there are detours.
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