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I just rode from my Chicago home to Racine on the North Shore Channel, Green Bay, R McClory and Kenosha County trails. The McClory is newly paved and well signed from the Great Lakes Naval Station north to the state line. There are no facilities other than the occasional bench, and there are long stretches without any shade. Otherwise it is a terrific ride!
The trail starts unassumingly in a residential neighborhood to the north and winds its way through Carthage College before bursting out of a canopy of trees into a spectacular, unobstructive view of Lake Michigan. The trail hugs the coast and meanders through a series of gorgeous parks. Just when your senses have almost reached their limit, you find yourself riding along Harbor Park filled with an assortment of sculptures, museums, and marinas. The Park is electric!
This was the most enjoyable ride I have ever taken. I will be back!
There are two cautionary notes, however.
1. The city roads between Poerio Park West and upper Alford Park are in horrible condition. Maybe avoid this northern section altogether.
2. The trail that goes south from the 50th Street bridge as you enter the Harbor is actually a staircase. I missed it the first time, but realized it on my return. There is a very steep embankment with a thin bike path next to the stairs, if you want to risk it.
I almost forgot to include this in my previous review:
If you do not like hills, DO NOT do either section of this trail.
Both the North and South sections used asphalt and crushed stone surfaces. Care must be taken when riding on the crushed stone. The trail is nearly 12 foot wide and it is neatly groomed, however, the stone is just loose enough to keep bicycle speeds down. The rider who tests their speed traveling downhill and around the blind curves will surely tumble. The age of the asphalt in both sections varies from "newer" to "desperately in need of repair." The southern section actually has a warning sign just south of Fairfield Park.
The last two miles of the northern section in Round Lake Beach is loaded with perpendicular cracks in the asphalt causing a jarring ride even at slow speeds.
One must be cautious at the street crossings although some of the busier roads have traffic lights with designated pedestrian cross walks. The signage was ok, but could have been better.
Except for the 2 miles of crushed stone from Sheridan Road in Highland Park to County Line Road in Ravinia, the entire trail surface it asphalt!
The first 11 miles of the trail from the Wisconsin border is newer asphalt; no cracks or bumps to worry about. Just a smooth ride. The northern section of the bike path, however, is plagued with several street crossings, all of which must be approached with caution. There is little to no shade on the northern section.
The southern section of the bike path has a lot more points of interest including various sculptures along the trail, Metra train stations, the Ravinia Festival grounds and interesting cities to explore. The southern section offers much more shade, but also has a few street crossings as well.
The trail does give way to the road in both sections, but the signage is good for the most part. There are new mile markers on the west side of the trail every 1/2 mile.
Love walking this trail. Quiet and safe mostly.
My 3 star review is because there needs to be signage when bikes pass, a shout out should be told to the walkers. Frequently I'll be walking and the bikes are so quiet it startles my dog or the bikes just squeeze by. It should be mandatory shout out “on your left!” when passing. Secondly, electric bikes are using the trail more often. Going 25-30 mph is not ok!
Same thing where most do not shout out when passing. Needs to be a rule regarding electric bikes.
We rode the GAP from Cedar Creek Park to the Boston trailhead at the base of the Historic Boston Bridge and back. About 36 miles round trip. What a great ride. Smooth trail with lots of benches and several picnic areas and toilet facilities. Well maintained. Passed through several little communities along the trail. No major highways and very few little roads to cross making it very safe. Got a delicious huge “medium” size ice cream cone at the “Big Twist” in Blythedale, right off the trail. Highly recommend this ride!
We rode the full length from the Chicago Botanic Garden to the end at Foster Ave. and back. About 40 miles round trip.
Nice paved trail with plenty of washrooms along the way. Saw 8 deer at various points, two just standing on the side of the trail as we passed and never moved at all.
There is a $12 fee to park at the Botanic Garden, which was no big deal to us. There are plenty of free parking areas at the many forest preserves along the trail. Botanic Garden is great also, if you have the time to go through it.
The trail makes a loop around the Skokie Lagoons, but I would recommend only doing the east side. It has way better scenery and is quiet. Not so on the west side.
I took a star off for the following:
1. There are a lot of big road crossings. Golf road, Dempster, Touhy, and a really nasty diagonal one at Devon & Caldwell. All the walk buttons worked fine and you need to be patient, but they are wide and rather intimidating. The diagonal bridge over Oakton and US-14 is quite impressive though.
2. This is a greenway, so lots and lots of blind curves. This would not normally be an issue, but the road bikers are going too fast around them and there are a lot of pedestrians.
3. Other people have commented about the rude road bikers and we did encounter a couple of them. Most are courteous and tell you when they are coming by, but we had three at road crossings that pushed their way through and cut people off like they were going to a fire.
Over all, a nice trail and a great getaway for people living in the suburbs, but you've got to pay attention so it's not as nice as many sleepy rail-trails.
i’ve done this trail but it’s probably been 1214 years ago. Decided to take my E mountain bike and I’m sure glad I did some of. It’s pretty rough with rocks but overall it was fun. Nice long ride.
We kept the scooter the scooters under 25mph . Perfect tail for walking/ e bikes / scooters . Everything was clean and in good shape when the wife and I visited. Busy trail . Make sure u have a bell on ur motorized anything for the blind corners . Keep the speed down . Highly recommended.
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