Find the top rated mountain biking trails in Illinois, whether you're looking for an easy short mountain biking trail or a long mountain biking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a mountain biking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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This trail starts behind my home in sycamore. I’ve ridden it dozens of times. I like to stop at the winners circle at the speedway and grab lunch. Flat and well maintained.
I did the Tunnel Hill Trail for my first 100 mile ride on 11/1/25. Parked in Harrisburg off Barnett St and biked to the south end of the trail at the Barkhausen Cache River Wetlands Center and back.
Trail surface is almost all hard packed crushed gravel with small paved sections through Harrisburg. Fairly smooth throughout. for an unpaved trail. No big hills but several long low grade inclines/declines. In the woods and forest the whole time except when passing through towns. There are water stations and bathrooms along the trail, though they were locked when I was there.
I did my ride on a Specialized road bike on 28mm tires. A gravel bike would probably be optimal, but the road bike did fine. Weather was cool and cloudy with some rain in the middle of the day, but the trail still held up well even with the light rain. Some small gravel got caught up around my brakes adding some extra resistance but nothing major.
Saw only a few other people all day, mostly hikers and but some bikers as well. Trail only crosses small roads, there are tunnels that go under major roads. Gravel was slower than the pavement, but this was a good 100 mile ride if not concerned with a specific pace. Took me 7 hrs 22 minutes of moving time.
Nice fall colors in late October/early November and the trail had a nice isolated feeling like not many people use it. I liked the bridges and the tunnels
*Note: some of the pictures on here, including the highlighted picture for this trail are not of this route. The highlighted "trestle bridge" picture is of a bridge on the Great Allegheny Passage
On the first day I rode the trail from the very northern terminus in Eldorado, IL to Karnak, IL. Camped at the Main Bros. Campground in Karnak that evening. On the second day I rode back to Tunnel Hill and took an excursion over to Ferne Clyffe State Park where i camped that evening. On the 3rd day, it was back to Tunnel Hill to join the trail and back to Eldorado, IL. Fall is a great time to ride this trail. This trail takes you through all kinds of scenery. Prairies, Farmland, Rugged Hills and Forest, and Cypress wetlands. The trail is in good shape. There are some spots where the state has had to patch the trail with some larger rock but it is perfectly passable. Taking care of this trail given the rugged terrain of much of the trail must be a monumental task. Cudos to the state of Illinois Dept of Natural Resources for keeping this wonderful trail in such good shape. Food, Harrisburg and Vienna are the two towns with options for fast food and local restaraunts. Camping, Karnak has the Main Bros. campground which is convenient if you are riding the whole trail in two days or are exploring the Cache River wetlands. Equipment, suggest a bicycle with at least 35mm wide tires. I rode a 45mm wide tire and it was perfect. I would not recommend a road bike for this trail. This is a wonderful resource to explore southern illinois by bicycle. Get out there and ride!
The segment east of Charleston is not paved. It's only a mile but if you are a trail completionist, be prepared for a rough ride for that mile or and back. Closer to a field road than a trail.Rest of the trail was perfect.
This is a short path off the north end of the Kishwaukee-Kiwanis Trail. It was freshly repaved for a smooth ride with nice greenery on each side and a bridge over the river near the northwest end. The path is handicapped accessible and there was no traffic on the neighborhood cross streets. I didn't linger, but based on the number of squirrels crossing the path, I could imagine seeing a fair amount of wildlife at the right time of day.
I rode out-and-back on this trail and the connecting DeKalb Nature Trail on a warm Sunday afternoon. The good news is that there is no on-road component to this trail. It is all paved and passes under a few roads and a railroad as it follows the S. Branch Kishwaukee River. I started at the south end at Lions Park and immediately had to cross Taylor Street. There is basically no signage along the trail. Fortunately someone had painted some arrows on the pavement, apparently for a 5K race. The crossing at Lucinda was a little odd where you have to cut slightly west to cross at a driveway. There's a nice ramp to get you under, then over, the N. 1st Street bridge, then there's an at grade crossing at Hillcrest. All-in-all, it's not bad getting across those roads.
The trail smoothness varies. It's a little bumpy in areas, but not too bad. The least pleasant ride is adjacent to Sycamore Road near the north end of the trail. Through the wooded sections, there were areas of crunchy Osage orange and walnut(?) shells to traverse, but it's fall so that's probably to be expected. The scenery is suburban with a good dose of parkland. The trail seems to have more use by walkers than by riders. The round trip was 11.5 miles.
This trail is the best maintained, marked and clean trails I have ever ridden. The trail surface is paved and in better condition than most of the areas highways! The prettiest portion is from the memorial hospital station to the Highway 161 station. Rode from Scott AFB to hwy 161 and back. Ride it soon! Get out there!
Started this trail at the east end (Floyd Tilton Park). The trail is asphalt and in good condition. On the east side, the ride parallels the small Kyte River. As others have mentioned, you pass under the busier roads, which is nice. The trail swings around the high school, then south along 20th Street. There is an extension that heads west from Squire Landings, cutting through cornfields and then paralleling the RR tracks. I did an out-and-back on this section, then rode back to the starting point along 10th Ave. Traffic was low on a Saturday afternoon. After the ride, I went down to Rochelle Rail Park to absorb some local history and watch a couple of trains go by. I'd probably ride this trail more often if I lived closer.
Nice paved bike path very woodsy and several bridges and several secondary roads. We were surprised to see the police patrolling the path but very reassuring.
My son and I rode from the visitor center east to the first aqueduct, about 20 miles round trip. It was beautiful day, we took our time, looked for turtles and stopped at a Casey's in Wyanet for lunch. Keeping to a healthy diet I went for sausage pizza, Yoo-hoo and an iced sugar cookie. The trail was rough, and rougher in spots but not a problem on my gravel bike with 40 mm tires. My son rides a Synapse with 35 tires and did it have a problem. If you ride a road bike or prefer smooth trails this might not be for you. we enjoyed it.
Some really pretty parts but a lot of road riding. Started from Cattail Slough Boat Launch (free parking as long as you don’t have a boat trailer attached to your car), rode to Mississippi Pallisades State Park and camped. Rode back the next day. Campground was fantastic and Krumpets Bakery in Fulton should not be missed. The actual trail portions were nice and the Thomson Recreational Area was nice. In Northern Illinois you have to know that there’s going to be a lot of long distance straight sections but this was excessively so. Maybe 35% was trail and 65% road. Happy to say I’ve ridden it but won’t return.
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