Find the top rated bike trails in Springfield, whether you're looking for an easy short bike trail or a long bike trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a bike trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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The Stevens Creek Bikeway follows a scenic stream for 4 miles through neighborhoods and woodlands, connecting two parks (one at each end of the trail) on the western side of Decatur in central...
The Fairview Park Trail, in western Decatur, traverses the large and beautiful Fairview Park and connects (via roadway) to the park's various attractions: an aquatic center, lake, gardens, pavilions,...
Except for short-distance walkers, the principal attraction of the Kiwanis Park/West Side Trail is its connection to the other parts of Decatur's trail system. From its western terminus, one can...
The Lincoln Park Trail runs along the wooded north banks of the Sangamon River. It's mostly flat with a few low hills. Visible from the trail are Decatur's Lincoln Park, some classic old neighborhoods...
The Lost Bridge Trail, jointly managed by the Springfield Park District and the village of Rochester, is one of the area's earliest and most popular multiuse trails-even for locals taking a weekday...
The Wabash Trail is the epitome of an urban rail-trail link. It's straight and flat. It has bridges over its only intersecting roadways. Just keep moving and enjoy. The trail connects city...
The first 5.5-mile segment of the 38-mile Sangamon Valley Trail opened in summer 2011 and runs between Centennial Park and Stuart Park in Springfield. In 2017, a 6-mile extension was opened between...
The Benld-Gillespie Bike Trail is part of two developing Illinois initiatives: the Route 66 Trail from Chicago to St. Louis, loosely following the historic highway; and the Illinois Traction System...
Dedicated on August 5, 2000, the Green Diamond Rail-Trail was the first bicycling/pedestrian trail in Montgomery County. Partially funded by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the trail is...
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The paved Interurban Trail provides 8.4 miles of suburban and rural scenery for users between Chatham and Springfield. It follows the former route of the electrified Illinois Terminal Railroad...
While you’re in the land of Lincoln, visit the Lincoln Prairie Trail to make the trip complete. Starting at the trailhead in northwest Pana, leisurely stroll along a paved trail that is nicely...
This trail is an extension of the Lost Bridge Trail that goes from Springfield to Rochester. From its western terminus, the first half mile is a heavily wooded section of urban rail-trail. It has a...
North of the Sangamon River crossing, the Conservation District Trail closely follows Stevens Creek through a flat and dense wetlands forest on the west end of Decatur. South of the river, the trail...
The Benld-Gillespie Bike Trail is part of two developing Illinois initiatives: the Route 66 Trail from Chicago to St. Louis, loosely following the historic highway; and the Illinois Traction System...
The Fairview Park Trail, in western Decatur, traverses the large and beautiful Fairview Park and connects (via roadway) to the park's various attractions: an aquatic center, lake, gardens, pavilions,...
The Lost Bridge Trail, jointly managed by the Springfield Park District and the village of Rochester, is one of the area's earliest and most popular multiuse trails-even for locals taking a weekday...
Dedicated on August 5, 2000, the Green Diamond Rail-Trail was the first bicycling/pedestrian trail in Montgomery County. Partially funded by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the trail is...
This trail is an extension of the Lost Bridge Trail that goes from Springfield to Rochester. From its western terminus, the first half mile is a heavily wooded section of urban rail-trail. It has a...
North of the Sangamon River crossing, the Conservation District Trail closely follows Stevens Creek through a flat and dense wetlands forest on the west end of Decatur. South of the river, the trail...
The Lincoln Park Trail runs along the wooded north banks of the Sangamon River. It's mostly flat with a few low hills. Visible from the trail are Decatur's Lincoln Park, some classic old neighborhoods...
The Stevens Creek Bikeway follows a scenic stream for 4 miles through neighborhoods and woodlands, connecting two parks (one at each end of the trail) on the western side of Decatur in central...
The Wabash Trail is the epitome of an urban rail-trail link. It's straight and flat. It has bridges over its only intersecting roadways. Just keep moving and enjoy. The trail connects city...
The first 5.5-mile segment of the 38-mile Sangamon Valley Trail opened in summer 2011 and runs between Centennial Park and Stuart Park in Springfield. In 2017, a 6-mile extension was opened between...
While you’re in the land of Lincoln, visit the Lincoln Prairie Trail to make the trip complete. Starting at the trailhead in northwest Pana, leisurely stroll along a paved trail that is nicely...
The paved Interurban Trail provides 8.4 miles of suburban and rural scenery for users between Chatham and Springfield. It follows the former route of the electrified Illinois Terminal Railroad...
Except for short-distance walkers, the principal attraction of the Kiwanis Park/West Side Trail is its connection to the other parts of Decatur's trail system. From its western terminus, one can...
North of the Sangamon River crossing, the Conservation District Trail closely follows Stevens Creek through a flat and dense wetlands forest on the west end of Decatur. South of the river, the trail...
The Stevens Creek Bikeway follows a scenic stream for 4 miles through neighborhoods and woodlands, connecting two parks (one at each end of the trail) on the western side of Decatur in central...
The first 5.5-mile segment of the 38-mile Sangamon Valley Trail opened in summer 2011 and runs between Centennial Park and Stuart Park in Springfield. In 2017, a 6-mile extension was opened between...
While you’re in the land of Lincoln, visit the Lincoln Prairie Trail to make the trip complete. Starting at the trailhead in northwest Pana, leisurely stroll along a paved trail that is nicely...
The Lincoln Park Trail runs along the wooded north banks of the Sangamon River. It's mostly flat with a few low hills. Visible from the trail are Decatur's Lincoln Park, some classic old neighborhoods...
The paved Interurban Trail provides 8.4 miles of suburban and rural scenery for users between Chatham and Springfield. It follows the former route of the electrified Illinois Terminal Railroad...
The Fairview Park Trail, in western Decatur, traverses the large and beautiful Fairview Park and connects (via roadway) to the park's various attractions: an aquatic center, lake, gardens, pavilions,...
Dedicated on August 5, 2000, the Green Diamond Rail-Trail was the first bicycling/pedestrian trail in Montgomery County. Partially funded by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the trail is...
The Lost Bridge Trail, jointly managed by the Springfield Park District and the village of Rochester, is one of the area's earliest and most popular multiuse trails-even for locals taking a weekday...
The Benld-Gillespie Bike Trail is part of two developing Illinois initiatives: the Route 66 Trail from Chicago to St. Louis, loosely following the historic highway; and the Illinois Traction System...
This trail is an extension of the Lost Bridge Trail that goes from Springfield to Rochester. From its western terminus, the first half mile is a heavily wooded section of urban rail-trail. It has a...
The Wabash Trail is the epitome of an urban rail-trail link. It's straight and flat. It has bridges over its only intersecting roadways. Just keep moving and enjoy. The trail connects city...
Except for short-distance walkers, the principal attraction of the Kiwanis Park/West Side Trail is its connection to the other parts of Decatur's trail system. From its western terminus, one can...
We rode this trail on 7/6/18. Started at Centennial Park and rode north. This is a great trail to ride on. Outstanding bridges, very well maintained! We will be back to ride this one again. If we had more time we would have done 2 loops on this one.
My wife and I rode the trail on 7/5/2018. We started from Pana and rode north to Tayorville. The trails is in pretty rough shape in areas and in need of some maintenance. We should have brought our hybrids instead of our road bikes. It would have made for a much nicer ride.
My 14 year old son and I rode the trail from Pana to Taylorville and back, nearly the full distance twice for the boy scout cycling merit badge (50 miles). About a mile before reaching the end of the trail in Taylorville, there is a bridge that is closed and there is no easy way to detour around it. The pathway has a few places where the pavement has separated or had tree roots have raised it, but they are marked with white paint. Some of the cracks have been filled with tar and others with very fine gravel. The northern half of the trail is mostly shaded with trees on both sides of the trail (so there are some leaves and small twigs on the trail) whereas the southern half is mostly without shade. There are two small towns where you take a short detour from the otherwise very straight trail. The elevation is slightly higher on both ends of the trail with the middle about 150 feet lower (but it is a very slow, gradual change in elevation). We drove an hour to get to the trail head and it was definitely worth it!
Great warm weather ride. Most of the trail passes through a heavy tree canopy on a flat and level path.We started from the IDOT trail head off Dirksen Parkway and road east to Rochester. Just off this end of the trail is a great little place called Walnut St. Winery. Stopped in for a bit of wine and cheese before returning back down the trail.
Loved it!! Flat, tree lined, quiet, came into Farmersville from Waggoner, road around that town, their is a subway sandwich shop and a few bars that serve food...will definetely be back !! Riding to truck stop made this ride 4.99 miles each way...enjoy!
6/22/17
Very rough trail. Needs attention. Could be a great one, but lots of holes.
It was pretty clear that they will be expanding this trail beyond it's current run from Stuart Park to Centennial Park. Due to time constraints I rode from Stuart to Iles Ave. and back. There's a very slight uphill run over that length, but it's not at all noticeable because the trail is very smooth. There were a constant flow of trail users, but it didn't feel crowded at all. There seemed to be an above average number of dog walkers on the trail, but I chalked that up to the dog run located in Stuart Park.
I had spent the day in workshops and at the State Capitol, so this was a perfect way to burn off some energy before a long drive home. I was very glad I made the stop and will likely do this again when I'm in Springfield.
My husband and I rode 12 miles on this trail yesterday after not riding it for a year. We started in Pana at the parking lot. We ran out of daylight, otherwise we would have put on more miles. The cracks in the asphalt were patched. The weeds needed cutting from Pana to Millersville. Someone cut the weeds in Millersville. Someone cleared the area around most of the benches, and the benches themselves were in good shape. One of the bridges needs work, but is easily crossed. This trail is so much better than half a dozen other trails in Illinois, and yet we saw no one one it at a time of day (after work and school for many) when other trails begin to get crowded. We kicked the walnuts off the trail, and moved some dead branched. It is good to go.
My husband and I came over from Decatur to try some new bike trails. We were very pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed it. The tree cover is wonderful. We will drive over and ride it again. And we will recommend to others.
Another great ride and a job well done by the cities of Springfield and Chatham. Add the Wabash trail for a 22.5 mile out and back. A decent hill where the I 72 and train tracks bisect the ride. Pass through a short tunnel and about a .3 mile climb with a good gradient of 6 %. Flat out to Chat am with one road to cross that has signals and a bile repair stand just before the crossing. my favorite in the area of Central Illinois.
This trail is fairly flat but very well maintained. The City of Springfield really does a superb job with all of its bike paths and should be a model project for all Illinois communities.
A mix of open and tree covered canopy type cover, it has 4 or 5 road crossings which are low traffic excluding one that you have to pay close attention too.
Over all distance park to park is 12.25 miles, parking lot to parking lot. Mid way bench rest areas for those that desire a break.
I give it a A+ for its category of being flat.
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