Find the top rated horseback riding trails in Rock Island, whether you're looking for an easy short horseback riding trail or a long horseback riding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a horseback riding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
We started in Akron and rode about 18 miles north. Loved it!!!
This was a very nice trail thru mostly wooded area.
Rode from Colona to Bureau early October. The trail was dry and in good enough condition to average 9-10mph. There was lots of animal and bird life. I was surprised at how few people I saw. It was very peaceful. The only trail hazard of note were walnuts in the path. I did notice that there could be issues if it is wet. Drainage and mud could be a problem. I do ride a Surly Ogre with 29x2.35 tires and 45 lbs of gear on it. Navigation was not a problem.
I rode the Rock Island trail in early October 2024 on a perfect day. I started in Toulon and rode into Peoria to East Glen Ave and rode back. This is a wonderful long trail. In the gravel section there are a few small rivulets where water has drained to watch out for, mostly by the bridges. Most of the asphalt was good. Some older places had some roots but most of it was great. My favorite was the gravel section for the solitude. I would rate this more than five stars if I could. I highly recommend checking this trail out! Traveling cyclist Facebook
The north most section has wonderful river views, picnic tables & benches. Then the trail runs along a heavy industrial area & is pretty ugly. The trail is also appears longer than the map indicates, but we turned back based on the map’s endpoint & poor scenery. TrailLink gives little mention to Eagle Point Park at the north end which is just amazing. If you just load/unload in their parking lot you will have missed the very best of the trail.
We ( recumbent trike & e-bike) headed West from the Kiwanis park. Turned around after 9km as the surface was really tough on the trike. There’s 2 good wheel tracks for bikes, but the trike had to ride partially in the coarse trail ballast. Scenic area with farm views and a huge windmill farm in the distance.
Having the trail link map helped since there are many on and off paths that look like the trail. Stay in your lane when busy. Will do this trail again. Very nice ride, plenty of bathrooms, and a nice pavilion at the west end.
June 19, 2024 (11:30AM)
Rode the Great River Trail as day two of our Mississippi trip. I was not happy with the trip at all. Let me tell you why. The trail is 60+ miles long and stretches from Savanna, IL to the Rock Island, IL area. Having read the reviews we drove up Hwy 84 to just south of Savanna. We could see the trail along the way, asphalt but a lot of cracks/bumps, dips and yikes areas. We saw maybe 2 bikers. Our starting point ended up at Spring Lake, just south of Savanna. It was a good spot and there is a 4 mile trail around this lake, which we did not do, but wished we had. Going south, our plan was to get to Thomson and grab a lunch. The weather was hot with just enough wind, out of the south, to be annoying. At first the trail was a perfect rails to trails; asphalt path, a little cluttered but ok. We rounded a turn at a nice visitors center and then the niceness ended; as did the trail. We ended up on a country road; Riverview Road; which is a road but there were limited glimpses of the river. Traffic was light therefore we had no trouble with cars/trucks. We kept waiting for the trail to pick back up but it never did. This was our main disappointment. The saving grace was Dusty's, in Thomson, IL. The friendly staff took good care of us, cooling us down and getting us some lunch. We flipped back north, past the federal penitentiary, on the country road, this time with the wind at our backs. All in all we did 16 miles with 157 feet of elevation. This was a one time trail for us. I look back at the trail map and it does show Riverview Road, however I wanted to make sure, with this review, that other riders understood that they would be on a country road.
Kevin
June 18, 2024 (12:30PM)
We rode the river trail on the 18th of June. It was hot and windy (winds out of the East/South East @15 MPH gusting to 25MPH). We parked south of Davenport at the trail head on Credit Island and rode to the Pat and Jack Bush Scenic Overlook, which provides a nice view of the river. The total round trip was 16.6 miles, with a lunch stop at Front Street Pub in Davenport. The ride had very little elevation, about 25 feet. The wind was a big factor for us as was the heat. There is little to no protection on this ride from the sun. It is all out in the open. The path was very nice, clean and paved. Will do it again, maybe starting at Riverdale and go south.
KG
I walked the whole trail this past Saturday, starting in Toulon and heading south(ish) to Peoria. From a pedestrian perspective, this is two distinct trails.
From Toulon to Alta is a crushed limestone rail trail which runs mostly through farmland. Large portions of it pass through a beautiful tunnel of trees. Each town involves a short road walk, which offer good options for snacks etc. I'd certainly walk this 25 miles again.
From Alta to the waterfront in Peoria is a paved interurban trail that spends lots of time in suburban back yards. If you like miles of fences, apartments, etc, this section is for you. The trail is signed in this section, but I still found myself referring to a GPS map to make sure I was on track. The last several miles (heading south) are relatively steeply downhill to the waterfront. I would not walk this section again.
We just returned from our week-end-a day early. Yes chilly weather was a factor but even more to the point, the trail was a Huge disappointment. We had decided to drive to south end and eye the conditions that rec'd mostly negative comments. We never even unloaded our bikes! The trail is basically not maintained, often runs right along OR on the highway for the majority of its 62 miles. The straight, unimaginative paths are not only boring but neglected to the pt of being dangerous - often far from the Mississippi River. Where did trail get it's name from?! Illinois once again leaves the user in the dust - or should I say weeds. We were left w/ a very negative impression, leading to our distrust of both the IL trail system as well as Rails to Trails reviews. It was obvious this trail was quickly laid out to meet some timeline set by a non-biking administrators. We counted two (!) people using trail in over the 60+ miles we covered from car. THAT should say it all!
We feel strongly that reviewers on Trail Link need to be more direct with readers. Polite and tolerant reviews are as much a disservice to the bikers as the abominable trail itself!
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (a non-profit) and we need your support!