We rode the SW section last weekend and the family really enjoyed it. We found great parking and a spot to eat before we rode the 5 miles into town and back out. The surface was well maintained. The scenery was great. It was a nice quiet ride and we stopped to take a lot of pictures.

A waste of time . It is also not the safest area in Champaign

We started off on the south side. I recommend this because the trail has slight up hill run through out the length, until you get back into town. There is a hill down and up just before the High school and level off after you get into the park. In reverse it is a nice slight downhill run once you get about 2 miles into the ride. very friendly people along the way.

Parked at the Savoy rec center and rode North. The North side had road construction going on so was closed. Hopefully it’ll be open by this fall. We loved this trail and just wished it was longer. They could extend it a couple more miles to the South.

Started off on this trail at the Covington city park which has brand new playgrounds, splash park, and restrooms. You could easily let kids play here for a couple hrs. The trail is paved and smooth. It’s almost a complete loop around town. Just a short jaunt down quiet neighborhoods will complete the loop. You won’t be disappointed with the this trail.

We parked at the Buffalo Trace parking lot just north of I-74 on Route 47. Direct trail access at this point. We rode it west to the end, which is about a mile through beautiful prairie. (There is parking at the west end also.)
Then we returned and rode it all the way to the east end, which pops you out into a residential neighborhood. (It's only 3.3 miles total.)
But the real beauty of this trail is that at about the midpoint it connects seamlessly with the Mahomet city trail in the woods at the golf course. From there you can ride south and end up in Mahomet at Route 47 and then ride north up the east shoulder back to the Buffalo Trace parking lot. The Route 47 shoulder is a full car width , paved and perfectly safe. So, you can ride a complete loop back to your car. Nice!
A really nice, fully paved circuit through prairie, forest and town.

Trail is in great condition. Paved at all the grade crossings.
The Walmart parking lot at the west end is a great place to start and finish.
The little downtown in St. Joseph has a cafe with specialty coffee's, sandwiches and ice cream.
You can ride into Urbana from the Walmart to the west on Main Street. It is clearly marked with a dedicated bike lane, and where the lane doesn't exist there are signs that say "Bikes can take the entire lane".
Overall, a very safe and well designed trail.

Access to the trail is easy and I picked the West end trail head in Mattoon. I parked at Peterson Park where there are many shaded parking spots. The start of the trail is one block west and one block north of the park. The trail starts off paved and once out of town is crushed gravel. The trail is pretty well maintained and used quite a bit, but there were still a few sections where my comfort bike got a little out of sorts in deep gravel. Overall though, the condition of the trail was good. The trail is pretty flat and there are only a couple of places along the route where it is necessary to cross roads. The scenery is very peaceful and at one section, the trail cuts through a country club - so you may be sharing the trail in that section with a golfer or two... Both Mattoon and Charleston offer many opportunities for dining, so you won't go hungry! I will definitely be back and will use this trail for 50 mile rides in the future.

Our family parked @ the east access point near Taylor Studios and rode the entire trail system a couple of times. The trails are in good shape and well marked. We did stray off the trail a bit visiting the downtown area and the former Air Force base. There are many historic buildings still standing at Chanute AFB and the downtown area boasts some great eating options and an old school cinema with a beautiful marquee still intact (though now closed). We ate lunch at a Thai food joint a few doors down from the cinema and the food and service were excellent. After a day of riding, we ended our time in Rantoul at the Hap Parker Pool - which is the public swimming complex. The pool features a couple of nice water slides and a large swimming area. All around a nice day of exercise, eating and sight seeing.