Find the top rated bike trails in Nebraska, 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.
We're in our 60's and look for biking experiences where we can park our car safely, ride 20-40 miles, stay in a comfortable place, and return the next day. The Chief Standing Bear Trail combined with the Blue River Trail of Kansas gave us such an experience. We elected to start at Marysville KS and take the Blue River trail to the southern endpoint of the Chief Standing Bear trail at the KS/NE state line, and continued to the north endpoint in Beatrice NE, where we stayed in a motel. The Chief Standing Bear trail has excellent gravel surface for biking, good vegetation control, safe bridges, good mileage markers, and passes through some deep shade areas but is mostly in open space, and has nice views of the Blue River. They recently added bathrooms, trail maps, historical info and drinking fountains at intervals along the trail. There are 2 towns where food is available; Barneston about 4 miles north of the state line where there is a bar & grill about 1 block off the trail, and Wymore which has some stores & restaurants that require about a 2 mile detour off the trail to find. The Chief Standing Bear trail ends a few blocks south of downtown Beatrice. Motels are about a mile north of downtown on highway 77. Safest way of getting to the motels is by heading north and west on city streets about 8 blocks from the trail end up to the beginning of the Homestead trail on highway 136 near the old train depot; you can take this paved trail up to highway 77 and be a few blocks away from a motel. There is a nice National Monument tribute to the Homestead movement a few miles west of Beatrice, that is worth a brief visit. On the Chief Standing Bear trail take hats/sunscreen and do your research on where to stay, what to do. Its a nice outing.
Have rode the MoPac several times. (It is 7 hours from where I live, but get to Lincoln several times a year.) Started my ride about 5 miles east of Lincoln and rode to Elmwood and back. A few critter holes in a section about 2 miles long, but other than that, trail was in great shape. I started shortly after sun up and saw less than a dozen people on the trail.
Ride this trail today. It's in great shape.
As per the previous comment, you can't ride to Fort Kearny, but you can ride to the Platte River Road Archway which is worth a stop.
The trail section that curves along the canal is particularly nice.
Warning: the section from Princeton to Cortland, NE is horrendous. It runs along HWY 77, right next to it. After that it's a beautiful, peaceful trail! There is another section that is kind of cool in midsummer, but sort of boring and long in the spring. It's about 2 miles through a cornfield, after Pickrell, NE. I love the section after that, going to Beatrice, NE. I'm so excited that the Blue River Rail Trail is soon to be connected to the Homestead!!
It has been under repair for so long! Once you leave the Jamaica Trail, heading south from Lincoln, you enter the Homestead Trail, which leads to the Blue River Rail Trail, and those are five star trails, because they are beautifully maintained! My Hubby loves the trails in Wilderness Park that you can enter at various points along the Jamaica. Enjoy!
The section of the West Papio Trail between Dodge and Blondo Streets that was undermined by the creek about 18 months ago reopened in early March 2017.
My son and I drove up from Omaha to Norfolk and on to Long Pine for a biking, hiking, fishing weekend. Only rode the trail from Norfolk west for 5 miles, about halfway to Battle Creek. That part of the trail was very nice - 2 miles of concrete and 3 miles of pea gravel. Nice bridge over the Elkhorn River. However, further west the trail parallels Hwys. 275 & 20. We could see a lot of it from the road as we drove and the further west we drove, the worse it looked. There were sections where it was almost completely overgrown with weeds. Would not want to ride there at all. It's too bad, this could be a very nice trail, but central sections are very neglected if maintained at all. Hence, the 3 star rating.
1. This trail now connects to the Field Club trail near 35th and Vinton Streets near the many grain silos.
2. There is now a trailhead at 42nd and D Sts. with parking. This is directly across the street from the McDonald's at 42nd/D.
3. I walked it today, but bikers prevail in numbers. The lack of significant scenery seems to fit the bike mode.
4. At the western end of this trail near the Keystone connection, I have seen a flock of turkeys in a forested area with is part of a Kiewit storage site. ( that was 18 months or so ago)
5. Long hills on the eastern half of the trail...
I previously reviewed this trail from a ride from its southern end, at Brownville, to Peru, NE. This review is of the leg from Peru to just south of Nebraska City. It is an attractive stretch of trail, and the trail itself was generally in good shape. The only negative that keeps me from giving more stars is that much of the trail is exposed to whatever wind may be blowing, and in Nebraska the wind is usually blowing. If it turns out to be a headwind then that is a serious negative. That would be significantly reduced if some windbreaks were planted alongside the trail, especially on the west side since that's where the wind usually comes from.
Nice trail, some nice shaded/wooden areas. Very scenic around the Louisville to Platte River bridge area. Trail was very good shape. Some parts the gravel/rock was a little heavy to pedal through, but overall very well maintained. No washouts or washboard sections.
This is a great trail for walking and exploring! I have been walking this trail for years, long before it was a trail! I used to hunt and explore this area when there was railroad tracks and trains still running on it! If you're adventurous enough get off the trail and explore the river! You'll find remnants of and old dam and one of the biggest cottonwood trees in southeastern Nebraska! If you're lucky you'll see deer, bluebirds and other fur and fauna! A great place to take kids to explore! One of the best place to begin your adventure is on South 11th Street north of the river in Beatrice!
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