Find the top rated mountain biking trails in Wisconsin, 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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Rode south to north (elroy to camp Douglas) and back on our fat tire e-bikes. Good scenery, lots of bridges, super tunnel , beautiful weather. Yes there are potholes and even with the fatties, some holes were rough. The asphalt should be milled back to crushed gravel imo. However snowmobile tread and use during the breakup season may be why the surfaced was asphaulted.
I returned on one of those great Midwestern fall days to complete the portion of the Glacial River Trail south of Jefferson. I found the few miles that were in-fact a former railroad. The rest of the trail is in the WI-26 freeway corridor or on rural roads and city streets, but the trail is all paved.
The city of Fort Atkinson is very attractive with trail amenities including public art. I again found that the TrailLink map was a necessity as the signage on the tail is sparse.
My only negative is there is no need to do the on-highway portion south of N Wright Rd unless you want to continue to the connection to the Spring Brook Trail that will take you into Janesville.
For an out and back trip consider places where you can use the parallel old WI-26 for a different landscape view.
Forestville to Algoma: Peaceful, relaxing ride through rural Wisconsin and the bridge offers a nice spot to stop and enjoy the view for a moment. I would have given this section of the trail 5stars, but the area near the marsh had high water due to the recent rains and the shoulders are softer much more to the middle of the road than expected.
If you are looking to take it easy and just go for a nice ride this is it. Smooth and simple. Very well maintained.
The Glacial River Trail in the Rock River valley is untypical for Wisconsin state trails in that it is entirely paved and not a rail-to-trail. It has a great mix of segments in the WI-26 freeway corridor, city streets and rural roads, with some good grades. I did the north part of the trail from Jefferson to the junction with the Wild Goose State Trail. There are no services provided by the trail owner, but the trail is free to use. The signage for the trail-turns is minimal so the Trail-Link map downloaded on your smart phone is a must. I especially enjoyed my ride thru the river towns of Jefferson, Johnson Creek and Watertown, where I took the time to ride around the downtowns. I will come back someday to do the south portion.
We got on the trail at Lacy Street in Verona/Fitchburg WI. The trail was paved and in great shape at that point. Cyclists were using it as a commuter trail and there were several people out walking and running. The trail turned into non-paved surface and that is where we dismounted to pay the fee of $5. Oh my, what can I say. The trail is NOT crushed limestone. At places it appeared to be an abandoned trail except for the path made by a bicycle tire. It was a muddy, sticky mess. I had checked ahead of time and found out the Stewart Tunnel was closed, which saved us back tracking since there wasn't a sign indicating the tunnel was closed. We detoured onto Tunnel Rd and took various paved roads into New Glarus. The best part of the trail was the Monroe WI segment. There was a detour off of the trail as we were coming into town. Very good signage directing us through the road construction area. There was a very nice trailhead with a drinking fountain and restrooms as you came into town from the north. We continued to the downtown area and decided to take a break and headed to the Dairy Queen by exiting the trail at 5th Street and riding to 8th Street. It was a challenge to cross the street but it was during lunch hour. As we headed out of Monroe there was an area of very loose gravel vs crushed limestone. An inexperienced rider might have wrecked. The rest of the trail was not maintained until it connected with the Jane Adams Trail. It was is good shape into Freeport IL.
Parked at Cottage Grove today and biked out 23 miles and then back to car. It was annoying that we both paid our 5 dollars and then visited the rest room. No toilet paper in mens or women's and both stalls in women's were smeared with feces. Nice surface on trail. Not enough benches. This trail would definitely not qualify as a national rail trail.
I grabbed the trail north of Janesville on my road bike. Crossed the bridge over the highway and did about a mile on the county road before winding through a new housing development and finding the actual trail. It's in great shape, lots of gentle rolling hills and a couple of roundabouts but not a single person anywhere along the trail. I rode to Milton and most of the trail parallels the highway so it's loud on one side but beautiful and agricultural on the other side. I saw hawks and finches and no humans of any kind. It was pretty sweet. I only gave it 4 stars because of the highway driving . Otherwise it's a 5-star paved trail.
I rode this trail today and thought it was pretty good,but it has some issues that I didn't like. The trail was kind of rough,and it was tough to keep up any speed because there were not too many straightaways. There were mud spots I had to carefully go through,spots in the path that would narrow down to a foot,and a lack of signs for the bike trail. I definitely prefer paved trails over crushed limestone and the many roots popping out of the ground. It was worth it to try the Mariners Trail and the Rawley Point Trail,but there are much better trails in the Milwaukee area like the Bugline,Hank Aaron Trail,and the Oak Leaf Trail.
I rode this trail today and was underwhelmed. It is very average. I rode from the south end all the way to the end,and then rode the Rawley Point Trail. On the way back on the Mariner's trail I rode on the same side of the trail that I started on. Why on earth are there so many signs saying "do not enter" on the way back heading south? There is no path on the other side of the road,and it's a 45 MPH road. I would not ride on that road.
I do have a previous review from 2016 but I wanted to add that we did a section starting in Kewaunee. The trail itself was wonderful once you get past the Bremmer Park Zoo. Surprisingly smooth given how other sections of the trail are not.
The trouble was, and this is informational for anyone planning to start out at the designated trail head on River Road, the trail is closed with a detour. I think because of the high river and lake level the trail may be flooded. We didn't think much of it and took the detour. Up a very long (about 1/2 mile) steep hill through a neighborhood. Then a few other side streets. Then down another steep long hill (3/4 mile), this one on a curving two lane highway (Hwy C) with almost no shoulder. And lots of fast moving vehicles. Very dangerous.
If you want to start near Kewaunee you are best off parking at the Bremmer Park Zoo, only a 5 minute ride from the official trail head.
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