Explore the best rated trails in Franklin, WI, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Seven Waters Bike Trail (Route of the Badger) and New Berlin Recreation Trail . With more than 62 trails covering 772 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Be aware. Signage not good 1st part of south end (where we began).
Trail Link map + GPS very helpful. Since signs are more in keeping w/ biking, than nose on phone, a suggestion: At decision points pls post signs, rather than down the road when you’ve luckily made a correct turn. Once through that the South end chains thru parks, many charming bridges over The Root River. North end signage was elusive too. We park near Zoo, biked along shore line, cut West to pick up trail just west of Main Street bridge and enjoyed 90% of the ride back toward North/car. A leisurely and scenic ride except for the navigation guessing game at beginning and end.
We rode this trail along with the Stone Bridge Trail. The asphalt needs some repair but still a nice trail.
On a perfect weekday morning in early October I experienced by bicycle the South Shore portion of the Oak Leaf Trail.
I parked in the Grant Park Beach parking lot in South Milwaukee and headed north to Cupertino Park and then back, a distance of about twelve miles. Even though it was such a short ride it took me over two hours since I had to frequently stop for the awesome photo ops. The views of the lake and the Milwaukee skyline are sensational!
The trail is obviously beloved by the community. Not only were there plenty of other bicyclists, but there were a tremendous amount of friendly pedestrians walking their dogs or getting their steps in, especially in Bay View Park.
The South Shore portion of the trail has so much to offer: woods, tree lined streets with charming homes, wildflowers, squirrels, geese, shoreline, lots of curves, five parks, yachts, and plenty of benches to take in the marvelous views of Lake Michigan and the downtown skyline. Besides the lake views, I especially enjoyed the curvy trail covered in golden leaves through the woods of Grant Park.
TWO WORDS OF WARNING:
1) There are hills.
2) There are cracked and uplifted portions of trail through the woods of Grant Park due to tree roots. They will effectively work like speed bumps and slow you down a bit.
However, all in all, this is an enjoyable ride and certainly worthy of your time and five stars!
This trail was actually a former C&NW railway that served Lake Geneva and terminated in Williams Bay. Service to Williams Bay started in 1888 and ended in 1965. Service to Lake Geneva ended in 1975. Thanks to Maxine Thoorsell for starting the conversion of turning this former railway into a nature trail. It is an easy grass covered walk and the trail is 1.7 miles in length. You can also access the trail at the boat launch to the west...behind the barn. A separate trail that is part of this former railway extends from Williams Bay Northeast up to Hwy 50 in the Kishwaukeetoe Conservancy
trail is in perfect condition and while there were a fair number of users, it was never crowded or congested on this saturday morning. It was a joy to ride roundtrip from menomonee falls to north lake. The only steep hill is in merton just east of dorn road. The small towns of sussex and lannon have some taverns that look interesting. Menomonee park above the north part of the trail just west of lannon road is worth a visit.
One of the best trails in Milwaukee area. Very scenic , beautifully paved . Stop in Dousman at Bicycle Doctor store. Great staff and a lot to look at !!
Great trail for walk surface and natural sites.
After reading other recent reviews, we first rode the Stone Bridge Trail from Roland Olson Forest Preserve to Rockton and then headed back east to the Long Prairie Trail. Once we were on the Long Prairie, the surface changed to asphalt and was reasonably ok - some big bumps and cracks were marked - until we got to Caledonia. After that the surface got worse, and we turned around when we'd gone a mile or so farther. It was a nice ride with plenty of shade, and we managed to get in about 25 miles total. Still, it's a real shame that we can't ride from the east end of the trail anymore.
I really enjoyed my ride today! Started at Meyer Park in Wind Lake. I parked facing the baseball fields; bathroom building on the left, trail followed the baseball field around to the right. The connection to the main trail wasn't far. This is the one place the sign said Seven Waters Bike Trail. I turned right to head toward Burlington. It was crushed limestone but very packed down. My hybrid handled it great and I feel like road tires would be fine. The tail end of the crushed limestone section became crushed asphalt like someone else mentioned in their review. It's not as packed down; thicker, but still totally fine with the hybrid tires. I don't know how this section would be with road tires but it was also not very long. Once you hit Bunker bar on Beck Dr, it's paved all the way to N Browns Lake Dr which is south of Case Eagle Park in Rochester (it's probably paved further; this was where I turned around). There's a small road stretch at Beck Dr and it was clearly marked "Bicycle Route." Case Eagle Park is a great rest stop and again, had good signage. It has bathrooms, dog park, kayak/canoe launch; the river is right there and pretty for a pit stop. People were walking in the rocky section of the river and even fishing. All the trail signs (minus the one at Meyer Park) said Racine County Bicycle Trail. It's flat for the most part. I'm not super in shape and have taken just a few flat bike rides this summer, and this roundtrip of 14m was pretty easy. It was a warm day with a breeze. I felt there were a lot of shady parts on the trail. It was a Saturday afternoon in August and I passed some people but for the most part, I was the only one around (it was not crowded by any means). I will most likely do this again. I liked the variety with the scenery, the bridges, and that you ride through towns and a park for bathroom stops if needed. I felt plenty safe. I agree the map on the trail was not readable; the bike trail portion is completely faded. I just used Google maps because it detects the trail. Meyer Park where I ended also has a playground, pitching cages, and it looks like you can rent the barn for parties. Nice place!
Biked this trail twice over the weekend. Started both from Independence Park. First day went north to the Wisconsin state line, almost. Second day went south to Libertyville. Fun rides with no one on the northern loop on a Friday afternoon. Sunday on the southern loop was more crowded. The two negatives are the complete lack of restrooms down to libertyville. If there are any they are not marked from the trail. The other negative was riding crushed rock on a road bike. Was not prepared for that and hit a few soft spots that tried to suck me down. I prevailed and managed around 68 miles for the two rides.
As noted by other reviews, this segment of trail is rugged. However, if prepared for the conditions it can be viewed as an adventure. The trail is under construction from Devon Ave to Tuohy Ave (south of Devon down to North Ave I knew it might be impassable due to recent rains) but from Tuohy going north to Golf Rd the trail was decently dry (rode several days after moderate rainfall) as it went through the forest preserves. An undeveloped rail crossing creates a trail gap between Golf and Central Ave so there is an unmarked alternate route along East River Rd with narrow shoulders and bad paving that leads into Beck Lake preserve to pick up the trail again. North of Beck Lake the trail is fairly good up through River Trail Nature Center (worth visiting)/Allison Woods. An unsignaled crossing of busy Milwaukee Ave (Rte 21) is then needed and the trail starts again on Winkleman (frontage) road between the Crowne Plaza and Hilton hotels. Between Milwaukee Ave and all the way to Lake-Cook Rd it is very challenging even when fairly dry but with good natural scenery and bird/animal sightings.
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