Prairie Trail (WI)

Wisconsin

4 Reviews

The Prairie Trail offers a paved route of nearly 7 miles along the eastern boundary of Fond du Lac, a mid-sized city befitting its French name which means “foot of the lake” as it hugs the southern shore of Lake Winnebago.

Begin on the trail’s east end, where there’s a capacious parking lot at the intersection of Winnebago Drive and Taycheedah Way. This trailhead is located the unincorporated community of Peebles, a stop on the Sheboygan and Fond du Lac Railroad in the late 1800s. From here, the trail unfurls southward under open skies, paralleling US 151 with a wide grassy median between the trail and roadway.

The eastern end of the trail overlaps the Peebles Trail; the two separate in Taycheedah with the Peebles Trail heading west and the Prairie Trail continuing south. True to its name, the views are largely of prairie and farmland. The trail ends near a set of active railroad tracks east of I-41.

The Prairie Trail is part of a larger network called the Fond du Lac Loop, which spans more than 15 miles and encircles the city, including two rail-trails, the Harbor View Trail and Brooke Street Trail.

Parking and Trail Access

A parking lot is available on the east end of the trail at the intersection of Winnebago Drive and Taycheedah Way in the community of Peebles.

Nice end to Fond du Lac Loop if you go counter clockwise

August 2026 y1htak2

We parked at the Park and Ride at Hwy 151 and Winnebago Drive which is the start of the north end of the trail. No bathrooms but there is a gas station/ restaurant on Winnebago drive which has a bathroom. This trail mostly runs along 151 but is buffered in areas by a pretty wide berm which sometimes had trees and other greenery on it. Other short areas separate you from Hwy 51 with a short concrete wall. Nicely paved. It’s pretty nice for a trail that runs along a highway. Better than Friendship trail.

There is a bench and drinking fountain at the south end by the Fond du Lac Waterworks water tower. We had fun turning on the bubbler and watching shoot about 8 feet in the air.

We did this trail as part of the Fond du Lac loop trail system by going in a counterclockwise direction and following the Fond du Lac Loop signs.
We started on the north end of the Prairie trail at the Park N’ Ride/ Prairie Trail Lot on Winnebago Drive just off Hwy 151.
We took a right at the fork to bike the Peebles trail which ran into the Harbor view trail. We then took a detour through Lakeside Park on the Lakeside park trail. Then ended up going through the city on the Brooke street trail which ran into the Pioneer trail, another city trail. Which in its turn ran into the Camelot trail which took us over a bridge to the other end of the Prairie trail. A very nice loop. The trails are color coded and pretty well marked.