Find the top rated bike trails in Western Springs, 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 Stearns Road Bike Path is a dedicated sidepath traveling from Hanover Park to the Bartlett, in the Chicago suburbs. The asphalt path sits on the north side of Greenbrook Boulevard/ Stearns Road,...
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When complete, the Veterans Memorial Trail will stretch close to 12 miles, connecting a series of memorials honoring US veterans from every era. At present, 1.3 miles are complete and usable, located...
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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 Busse Woods Trail system is located within Ned Brown Forest Preserve, a 3,700-acre property in the northwestern suburbs of Chicago. There are 11.2 miles of paved trails for cyclists, equestrians...
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 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...
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The Prairie Trail runs the length of McHenry County and is managed by the McHenry County Conservation District. The rail-trail spans just over 26 miles from the Wisconsin border and the farms and...
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...
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The Salt Creek Trail travels nearly 27 miles from the Brookfield Zoo to Busse Woods Forest Preserve. Along the way it connects several beautiful county forest preserves and other woodland...
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The Tinley Creek Trail is currently in two segments. This southern segment is within the South Green Belt Forest Preserve between Flossmor and Matteson, just west of I-57. The trail traverses wooded...
The DeKalb Nature Trail provides a pleasant, tree-lined route in northern DeKalb. Near its western trailhead, it crosses the Kishwaukee River and passes through the Nehring Forest Preserve. Further...
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 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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The city of Joliet saw its electric utility corridors as a recreational opportunity. One such trail is the Fort Beggs Bike Trail, which starts on Theodore Street and heads northwest in the shadow of...
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...
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,...
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 village of Palatine has connected many of its community assets with two long sections of off-road, multi-use trail. The more popular northern section is the one most references call simply and...
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 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 DuPage River Trail spans over 30 miles across two counties: DuPage and Will. It's currently open in several disconnected segments mainly in parks and forest preserves beginning in Warrenville and...
Although just shy of three miles, the Veterans Memorial Trail provides a wooded, paved trail experience for residents in the Chicago suburbs of Romeoville, Lemont, and Woodridge. Those seeking a...
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The Fort Beggs Bike Trail (North) is a nearly mile-and-a-half long trail in Plainfield, Illinois. The trail shares the electric utility right-of-way, stretching from Fort Beggs Drive south to Spring...
The Vale Park West Pathway is a multiuse trail in the Chicago suburb of Valparaiso. At 0.7 mile long, the trail passes through a mix of woodland and prairie, as well as over a creek on a 220-foot...
The Chicago Lakefront Trail is aptly named; it spans 19 miles along the shore of Lake Michigan, going right through downtown Chicago and passing many cultural and tourist attractions throughout the...
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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...
The Prairie Trail runs the length of McHenry County and is managed by the McHenry County Conservation District. The rail-trail spans just over 26 miles from the Wisconsin border and the farms and...
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 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...
The North Shore Channel Trail extends from the junction of Green Bay Road and McCormick Boulevard in northern Evanston to the junction of Lawrence Avenue and Francisco Avenue in Chicago. All but the...
The Great Divide Trail sits is a one mile non-motorized trail through a negihborhood at the northern tip of Joliet, Illinois. The paved trail, which sits in the shadow of electric transmission lines,...
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The Skokie Valley Trail in Cook County parallels active train tracks in the Village of Skokie, providing easy access to both the Oakton–Skokie and Dempster–Skokie stations on the CTA’s Yellow Line....
The 9-mile Green Bay Trail runs parallel to Chicago's Metra commuter rail line north of the Chicago city limits. Stretching through North Shore towns such as Kenilworth, Winnetka, Highland Park and...
The Salt Creek Trail travels nearly 27 miles from the Brookfield Zoo to Busse Woods Forest Preserve. Along the way it connects several beautiful county forest preserves and other woodland...
The Hickory Creek Bikeway offers nearly 4 miles of paved pathway through a wooded preserve. On its western end, the trail begins at Hickory Creek Barrens Nature Preserve and Lincolnway Road; on the...
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...
Located in the west side of Illinois' second largest city, this flat, straight bike path sits on the side of Orchard Road. The trail passes by commercial, residential and natural areas, and crucially,...
The Tinley Creek Trail is currently in two segments. This southern segment is within the South Green Belt Forest Preserve between Flossmor and Matteson, just west of I-57. The trail traverses wooded...
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...
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...
The Commonwealth Edison Bikeway is a short paved trail that occupies an overhead electric utility corridor owned by Commonwealth Edison, the local utility company—hence the trail's name. While lacking...
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The eastern segment of the Great Western Trail in Illinois follows 12 miles of an abandoned railway corridor through DuPage County, between Villa Park and West Chicago. There are plans to extend the...
Prospect Heights has very few sidewalks, so biking, inline skating or walking are moved to the streets or in the parks. Don't underestimate the Prospect Heights Bike Path which is over four miles of...
The Prairie Trail runs the length of McHenry County and is managed by the McHenry County Conservation District. The rail-trail spans just over 26 miles from the Wisconsin border and the farms and...
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 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 Lily Cache Greenway travels east-west across Bollingbrook, from the ComEd Greenway to the Plainfield border. The trail more or less follows the course of its namesake creek, and is characterized...
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...
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 Lincolnwood Valley Line Trail connects the existing Valley Line Trail (Sauganash Trail) to the Skokie Valley Trail in Cook County. Like the previous segments, this trail occupies a former Union...
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...
The Major Taylor Trail is named after legendary African American cyclist Marshall “Major” Taylor, who was one of the most celebrated bicycle racers of the late nineteenth century, setting several...
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...
The Fort Beggs Bike Trail (North) is a nearly mile-and-a-half long trail in Plainfield, Illinois. The trail shares the electric utility right-of-way, stretching from Fort Beggs Drive south to Spring...
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...
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 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 DeKalb-Sycamore Trail—also known as the Peace Road Trail—parallels the eastern side of Peace Road from DeKalb to Sycamore in northern Illinois. Along the way, you'll pass a mixture of residential...
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 Calumet Trail traverses the south side of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, a unique ecosystem of forest, marsh, dunes and beach along Lake Michigan. This dirt and crushed limestone path...
In our pandemic times, I stay off the overused trails in & close to Chicago.
Because of limited access points, this trail fits the bill as sparsely used.
Closer to Rockdale, the trail is a bit overgrown, and there are a few spots with loose gravel. I wanted to ride to Gebhard Woods, but did not find the trail. (People in Morris want you to see their downtown.) But that was fine - I did ride around Morris before I returned to Rockdale. This was the flattest ride I have ever done!
Overall, this was a great trip. It's a towpath so as you expect, almost no change in elevation. Most of the trail is hardpacked gravel, with some pavement. I wouldn't recommend any portion of the trail after much rain, the trail would be too muddy (particularly between Utica and Ottawa). We were really impressed with the staff who seemed to be keeping the trail working. On Utica to LaSalle, there was a downed limb blocking the trail, but it was gone by the time we returned an hour later. Everywhere else, the trail was mostly free of litter except in some of the towns.
The western third from LaSalle to Ottawa is very scenic, with a few of canal, river, caves, flora, fauna, and sandstone cliffs. Someone created a small bridge at the washout between Utica and Ottawa. The middle third from Ottawa to Morris is not as nice, although the stops in Marseilles, Seneca, and Morris are nice. The trail in Seneca stops right next to a well kept Casey's with a clean bathroom, friendly staff, cold gatorade, and a free air compressor. Most of this segment the canal is gone and the trail is down to a small single file track, but still heavily wooded at least. Morris itself is really scenic, but you have to detour around another washed out bridge, I think the route was Ottawa to Fremont/Jefferson to Nettle. Morris to Channahon was our favorite segment, particularly around McKinley Woods and Channahon State Park. The woods and river views were beautiful and the canal waterway was in the best shape here. The section from I-55 to Rockdale was again not-so-nice, reasonably well wooded, but few amenities and not the greatest scenery.
There are few places to stop close to the trail east of Morris. Near Channahon State Park where the trail crosses US Route 6, there's a subway and gas station nearby.
We tried this bike trail on a Saturday afternoon in September. It was a fairly easy ride, though we only had time for a half loop. Highly recommend.
When I say this trail is bumpy, I mean headache-inducing bumps. A lot of the trail is on a busy road. There was construction during part of the trail and there was no signs for a detour, there was barley any signs at all. I had to have the map pulled up on my phone the whole time to make sure where I was. There is a section where you have to go on an overpass and the trail makes you walk UP STAIRS, so I had to circle back around to find a better way to the trail. However, the parks at the trail tail and head were very pretty with the lake, flowers, and trees. Overall, I think this trail is more of a running/walking path than it is a bike path
Not the most scenic trail, but it’s pleasantly quiet and good for short morning or evening rides. The surface is new and in excellent condition.
Nice job by LCFP I’m adding new trails. Little crowded at times but overall a great new area. Hooks into long grove’s trail so you can visit downtown long grove
This is the best trail I’ve ridden on this summer. Moderate climbs with excellent mile markers and maps. Also plenty of options for those looking for a longer ride. Don’t forget to check out the equestrian center too. This is a can’t miss trail.
If your a rollerblader like myself and looking for a good work out this trail is it. The path is smooth for the most part and it’s easy to do 2 laps! It can get crowded on some days. But the views make it amazing!! I go like 3 to 4 times a week in the warmer sessions!
Peaceful and quiet. Easy access. Terribly bumpy and really needs to be re-paved.
From riding the bluffs to the west and then down close to the Cal Sag in the middle and finally a little more urban to the east you wouldn't know you were in a major metropolitan area. This is a ride that can be taken as the seasons change again and again.
For short family rides, moderate rides or long rides (the maps show a ride to Calumet City) this is one of Chicago lands's finest. Coo-do's to the Cook County Forest Preserve.
Starting at the southernmost point, near the zoo, is great for 2-3 miles. Woodsy, well-maintained asphalt. Very promising. Sadly, the trail then goes onto a big main road, next to a golf course...not fun.
Then we tried from the Northernmost point, at Busse Woods. Terrible. 3 miles through suburban streets, and then onto *terribly* maintained asphalt...bumping along waiting for it to end. We rode a total of 6.5 miles in this direction and then turned around. Very disappointing.
The middle portion of the trail looks promising, so perhaps we'll give that a try one of these days.
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