Find the top rated walking trails in Schaumburg, 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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The Charles Street Community Path offers a neighborhood route through southeastern Rockford, connecting residents to CherryVale Mall on its eastern end. On its western end, Alpine Park is just north...
The Techny Trail links downtown Glenview, a charming village northwest of Chicago, with the Techny Basin, a scenic wetlands area adjacent to the West Fork of the Chicago River's North Branch....
The Joliet Junction Trail is a paved path that travels north–south through the west side of Joliet. It occupies an abandoned Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway corridor that in its last years was known...
Running between the suburbs of Chicago Heights and Joliet, the Old Plank Road Trail offers views of oak trees and sugar maples, prairie grasses, and wildflowers that peek up through the...
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Racine’s southeastern neighborhoods are home to the North Shore Trail, which extends south to the Racine–Kenosha county line. Because Racine County standardized its signs several years ago, you won't...
First-time visitors to the Oak Savannah Trail might be surprised at the profusion of natural areas they’ll encounter as they travel the 9.5 miles between Hobart and Griffith in northern Indiana’s...
The Pike River Pathway is a short trail on both sides of the reconstructed Pike River in the Village of Mount Pleasant. The path is convenient to several neighborhoods in the community. Birds, frogs...
This regional trail connects two of DuPage County's forest preserves—Herrick Lake and Danada—on a crushed stone pathway nearly 6 miles long. Together, the preserves cover more than 1,600 acres of...
About an hour northwest of Chicago, the beautiful Grant Woods Forest Preserve spans more than 1,000 acres, offering an outdoor respite of prairie, woodlands and marshes. The crushed limestone pathway...
The Kishwaukee Riverfront Path winds nearly 7 miles through downtown Belvidere, east of Rockford in northern Illinois. As its name implies, the paved scenic trail follows the waterway for most of its...
The Kishwaukee-Kiwanis Trail winds through the northern Illinois town of DeKalb, coursing along a river, through woodlands, among open spaces through parks and through suburban back yards. The trail...
The Buffalo Creek Trail makes a loop around the scenic Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve in Long Grove. The crushed-gravel trail provides access to facilities throughout the park. Along the way, you’ll...
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An excellent example of land use in greater Chicago, the entire Skokie Valley Trail corridor is a rail-with-trail, paralleled by double tracks that sit about 40 feet to the west of the trail surface....
As the name suggests, the Lake George trail travels along the north shore of Lake George, turning north at Calumet Ave/US 41 to skirt the east shore of Wolf Lake. From Lake George the trail also heads...
The Poplar Creek Trail is a 9.5-mile paved loop around Poplar Creek Forest Preserve near Hoffman Estates. The trail has a couple of hills but is otherwise level and makes for a pleasant journey...
Note: Erosion caused by surging waves off Lake Michigan has caused the trail to collapse in sections. The eastern half of the trail along Lake Michigan is closed indefinitely. See the Chicago Park...
The Racine-Sturtevant Trail runs for 3.5 miles from the western side of Racine to near the eastern edge of the Village of Sturtevant. The trail occupies an abandoned rail corridor for most of its...
In just a few short miles, the Wauponsee Glacial Trail leaves the urban confines of Joliet to bask in open farmland and reclaimed tallgrass prairie where the bison roam again. Named for a glacial lake...
The Waubonsie Trail links Boulder Hill and the Village of Oswego via a greenway corridor within a residential community. The eastern trailhead is in Jaycee Park, which offers a playground, picnic...
The Union Pacific Recreation Path offers a short route through the Village of Lincolnwood's east side between Devon and Touhy avenues. Following the former Union Pacific Railroad, the rail-trail...
The Middlefork Savanna Forest Preserve is a natural gem hidden in an high-income neighborhood of Lake Forest, Illinois. Those 600 acres are home to perhaps the best-preserved example of the rare...
The Cal-Sag Trail (or, Calumet-Sag Trail) is currently under active construction. As of early 2018, it has a competed section of about 13 miles, stretching from near its western terminus at the John...
El Paseo runs through the vibrant Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen, once home to a large Czech population but now the center of the Lower West Side’s Latino community. The neighborhood is filled with...
The Kishwaukee Riverfront Path winds nearly 7 miles through downtown Belvidere, east of Rockford in northern Illinois. As its name implies, the paved scenic trail follows the waterway for most of its...
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The Bloomingdale Trail, part of “The 606” park system, is a 3-mile, elevated rail-trail on Chicago’s northwest side. Built on a former rail line, the trail sits 17 feet above four of the city’s...
Blackberry Trail follows a stretch of Blackberry Creek in Montgomery, Illinois. The trail is accessible from the forest preserve entrance at Caliendo Circle. Heading north, the trail reaches Mayfield...
The Kenosha County Bike Trail is open in two sections separated by dense neighborhoods in the City of Kenosha. The northern segment runs northeast from 35th Street in the city to 1st Street at the...
Although the Phyllis Harmon Path is short, it's an important connector in an east-west bike/ped route between Arlington Heights and Glencoe. Following Dundee Road, the paved trail goes from the Des...
The Burnham Greenway is composed of two distinct portions that both run along a former railroad corridor between Chicago and Lansing, Illinois. There are plans to extend and connect these short...
The Millennium Trail currently spans just over 30 miles in two disconnected segments, but there are plans to extend it to 35 miles and connect it to the Des Plaines River Trail. The trail goes through...
The Southern Dupage County Regional Trail connects multiple of the larger forest preserves in Dupage county together. Starting near the intersection of 75th st and Ogden Ave in Aurora, the trail runs...
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The Monon Trail in Lake County, Indiana—not to be confused with the trail of the same name in Indianapolis—links the two Chicago suburbs of Hammond and Munster. The paved trail occupies an abandoned...
The Oswego Prairie Trail is a short paved route that occupies an overhead electric utility corridor owned by Commonwealth Edison. The path forms a direct link between two parks in Oswego—Farmington...
The trail system in Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve makes a loop around the entire park. The preserve is geologically significant, featuring glacier-carved rock ridges, ravines and wetland potholes,...
Swanson Park Recreation Path is sometimes known as the Cherry Valley Path as it's located in the Village of Cherry Valley on the outskirts of Rockford in northern Illinois. The paved path travels...
The Chain O' Lakes Bike Path is a paved trail that runs between E. Grand Avenue in Fox Lake and Grant Woods Forest Preserve to the east. The trail parallels the railroad track and Rollins Road/CR 31,...
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The the Fox River Trail (FRT) was built on stretches of three former railroads: Chicago, Aurora & Elgin; Aurora, Elgin, & Fox River Electric; and Chicago & North Western. Today, it hosts a multitude...
Just 1 mile long, the Valley Line Trail—also known as the Sauganash Trail—extends between Bryn Mawr Avenue and Devon Avenue in the Chicago neighborhood of Sauganash. Two bridges allow for safe...
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The 4.4-mile River Bend Trail is so named for the loop of Fox River along which it follows on its eastern end. It's here that you can connect to the scenic Fox River Trail to travel 43 miles along the...
The White River State Trail is composed of two separate segments: a 12-mile stretch that runs between Elkhorn and just west of Burlington in Walworth County, and a 7-mile section that connects the...
The Pennsy Greenway is currently open in three segments between Calumet City, Illinois, and Schererville, Indiana. The northern portion begins at the southern end of the Burnham Greenway in Calumet...
The Illinois Prairie Path (IPP) was one of the nation’s first rail-trail conversions. It consists of five connected trail segments with three main branches that converge at Volunteer Park (West...
The Prairie Point Trail is a scenic neighborhood route that connects twice to the longer Grove Road Trail. While never far from houses, the trail offers surprising scenery, including a stretch along a...
The Techny Trail links downtown Glenview, a charming village northwest of Chicago, with the Techny Basin, a scenic wetlands area adjacent to the West Fork of the Chicago River's North Branch....
The Kishwaukee Riverfront Path winds nearly 7 miles through downtown Belvidere, east of Rockford in northern Illinois. As its name implies, the paved scenic trail follows the waterway for most of its...
The Illinois and Michigan Canal State Trail follows the eponymous waterway alongside the Illinois River. It traverses the I&M Canal National Heritage Corridor, designated in 1984 and the first...
In southeastern Rockford, a paved pathway begins at a connection with the Charles Street Community Path then heads south along Mulford Road through a residential area. At Harrison Avenue, the path...
The Root River Pathway uses a combination of off-road trail and on-road route to form a crescent around the City of Racine. The trail closely follows the bends of the Root River, making it a great...
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The northern section of the Tinley Creek Trail is a series of color-coded connected loops and spurs that weave through several forest preserves in Cook County. The 24-mile trail system is paved,...
The Robert McClory Bike Path runs the length of Lake County, knitting together a string of communities on the north shore of Chicago all the way to the Wisconsin border. In 1997, the trail was named...
The Des Plaines River Trail runs alongside the Des Plaines River for just over 56 miles, protecting watershed habitat and forestland through much of Lake and Cook Counties. The trail is a natural...
The Middlefork Savanna Forest Preserve is a natural gem hidden in an high-income neighborhood of Lake Forest, Illinois. Those 600 acres are home to perhaps the best-preserved example of the rare...
The Timber Ridge trail is located on the eastern side of the Timber Ridge Forest Preserve in west Chicago. The preserve offers several trails, fishing, picnicking, and is home to Kline Creek Farms,...
The KR Trail is a new addition to Kenosha County’s growing bike-ped network. The trail picks up where the Kenosha County Bike Trail leaves off, in Petrifying Springs Park. From the northwest corner of...
The Prairie Crossing Bike Path is a hard surface trail connecting Mundelein to Grayslake in central Lake County, Illinois. The trail is perpendicular to the 30-plus-mile Millennium Trail, which it...
The the Fox River Trail (FRT) was built on stretches of three former railroads: Chicago, Aurora & Elgin; Aurora, Elgin, & Fox River Electric; and Chicago & North Western. Today, it hosts a multitude...
The White River State Trail is composed of two separate segments: a 12-mile stretch that runs between Elkhorn and just west of Burlington in Walworth County, and a 7-mile section that connects the...
The Fermilab Trail garners its name by running though the campus of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), the former home of the Tevatron particle accelerator. The 3.9-mile particle...
The Perryville Path runs nearly 7 miles, connecting the communities of Loves Park and Rockford, not far from the northern border of Illinois. A pleasant place to begin your journey is Rock Cut State...
The Randall Road Bike Trail offers a 4-mile paved north-south route along its namesake roadway in a suburb west of Chicago. A highlight of the journey is the trail's passage through the LeRoy Oakes...
We’ve only done Oswego to Geneva so far but I’m already so impressed. Beautiful well maintained trail. While it’s a great trail for getting a workout in you’ll be torn between it and stopping to take in the amazing scenery.
I recently rode this trail from south of Burlington to Wind Lake round trip. I'll be honest, I thought it would be more scenic than it was, but it didn't disappoint either. The portion through Burlington goes fast as there's plenty to see in the town, including nice views along the river. In between, there are long-winded stretches that don't excite. Think crushed limestone path, lots of sun, and nothing else. Case Eagle Park and Saller Woods were nice, but not a large segment of path either. Heading north you've got a few places to stop for amenities like Rochester, Waterford and Wind Lake, where I chose to stop. I know the trail extends up close to Franklin but I chose to turn around near Muskego Lake. This provided me with a 30+ mile round trip ride. Along the way and I can't recall where it was, is a VFW (or similar entity) that houses a tank, helicopter and a couple of jets. They're right on the path and worth stopping to admire. Cheers.
Simply put, it doesn't get any better than this in Illinois. Referred to as the Lake Michigan Trail, this one can be ridden along the lake for more than the advertised 19 miles. I've done every inch of this path numerous times and always look forward to coming back. The entire trail is cement or asphalt making it an easy mover. Wind can obviously play a role (yeah, go figure) as can traffic (many walk, peddle and run this trail). The sites...well...they are as you can imagine, limitless. There are an endless number of places to stop for a rest and an equal number of curiousities to pull over and check out. My favorite is north of Oak Street beach. After a good number of miles I like to pit stop here and jump into the lake to cool off. This isn't for everybody. : ) In all seriousness this path has so much to offer you might ride it 50 times before noticing something new.
Unlike its superior sister trail to the west, the GFT-D falls short. While living in Wheaton for years I rarely gave this path any of my time. It was sun-baked, not the best kept and didn't offer any of the scenery that its sister trail does in Kane County. In all honesty, I would recommend avoiding this path and making your way west to the 'better' segment. Or test both out and come to the same conclusion.
This trail started around the lake, then opened up to the back area making path available to Warrenville Road, Herrick Road and Naperville Road. While the Herrick lake area was always nice I especially enjoy the segment that heads over to Naperville Road and through Danada Farms and the nearby lake that ends at Butterfield Road. The area in the back of Herrick is just circular paths without frills, but they offer additional miles.
At less than 10 miles this trail isn't going to be a grand adventure. But take it for what it is, a rolling, scenic, half sun/half canopy trail with views of the forest, street-side, ponds, prairie, and wildlife. My son and I knocked out this path last summer and enjoyed it. Plenty of places to start/end your ride as there are multiple parking areas/parks in the area. On your ride be sure to try and find the lions (2). They roam in the same spot and do not move. Cheers.
For close to five years I lived at the zero marker for the IPP in Wheaton. This gave me unabated access to a wonderful path that offered multiple paths in every direction. Each path differed in terms of scenery but the trail was always kept up nicely and offered great views of parks, towns and history. I don't ride the IPP much these days as I live near the Fox River Trail and call that my favorite now. But I have very fond memories of riding every inch of the IPP more than many times. Cheers.
I usually pick up the VLG from the Fox River Trail just south of downtown Aurora and ride it west to it's endpoint at Waubonsee Community College. The path is mostly crushed limestone and canopied with great tree cover. It's usually in great shape although I've seen some water flooding in some areas during the spring. These were ridable through at slower speeds. The trail itself has plenty of pitstops with benchs/etc and cover. Along the way you'll see a few golf courses, Blackberry Farm and waterpark, the countryside, forested areas and finally the college. There are also several bridges, maybe a half dozen or so. The largest crosses over Route 56.
I've been riding the FRT from Oswego to South Elgin for over 25 yrs. And there isn't a bad part. Traveling along a scenic river while riding from town to town will please all bikers of any age. The FRT is a string of majestic sites like a huge windmill, island parks, sculptures, Riverboats, picturesque river views, a slew of bike shops, plenty of parks and places to stop. The path runs on both sides of the river and for many stretches on both. The trail itself is always in impeccable condition and varies in traffic from bikers, joggers and walkers. This is one of the best trails in Illinois, if not the best.
This path might also be called the wind tunnel path, or the power line path. Most of the Tall Grass Greenway travels under a large string of power lines so it's hard to stray. The trail itself is asphalt and very well kept up. Depending on the wind, the trail can present an unabated push or shove to your ride. I completed the trail round trip and felt both sides of it. The parts of trail I enjoyed most weren't actually part of the TGGT trail at all: the far east end where it becomes a path along the river is a very nice crushed limestone ride, and the far west side where it travels south to 111th St and along a very old cemetary on one side and train tracks on the other. This is a good, solid path, but I think the extension paths on both ends were better.
There are plenty of benches and areas to rest along the way.
For several years I've ridden this path and waited for word to get out as to how GREAT it is. To get the full effect I usually ride from Dean Street in St. Charles out to Sycamore. That's about 35 miles. The trail is a mix of asphalt and crushed limestone and it's 100% well maintained. There's a good split of canopy and sunlight offering riders an opportunity to cool off under the tree's and get decent views in other spots. The trail takes you through a couple of small towns, each of which offers opportunities for food/water. There are several bridges along the way as well as benches and picnic tables for rest breaks. West of Campton Hills you'll probably see a drastic drop in traffic. You'll also see a nice mix of wildlife out here. A great number of birds including an electric blue finch-like bird frequents the area, as do horse farms and other small critters. Just a beautiful path that runs through forested areas, over small streams and b offers great views of the distant prairie. Cheers
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