Explore the best rated trails in Ottawa, IL. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Illinois & Michigan Canal State Trail and Tall Grass Greenway Trail. With more than 46 trails covering 4325 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.
Centennial Trail in good shape with a few minor bumps. Mostly flat and worth the trip to get there. Rode it in June 2023 and enjoyed it!
Enjoyed our ride both east and west from Sheffield from a beauty and historic standpoint but the state of IL does not maintain the trail at all. East of Sheffield there are lots of locks but the trail goes from fair to poor, to decent. Lots of branches and debris on the trail so need a mountain type bike. About 6 miles west of Sheffield the trail turns into a field with overgrown trees and then you are making your own trail. Too bad the state of IL doesn't believe in maintaining its infrastructure that could attract tourism. Didn't see hardly anyone on the trail during a June weekend.
Looked this up spontaneously and it was just a beautiful ride! Perfect date for my husband and I!
Rode from hammel woods (on black road) north to trailhead at sunset park in plainfield then south back through woods to trailhead at jefferson street in shorewood, about 10 miles roundtrip.
North of black road the asphalt pavement is flat and in excellent shape. Trail goes from the woods parking lot then north under black road and through a wide prairie along the river with no shade. South of black road the trail winds through the woods with very little slope and asphalt pavement is in good shape. Easy riding all the way.
Surprised to see this amazing trail that has great bed and breakfasts along it is not noted as part of the Great American Rail Trail. It sure would help demonstrate more GART completion if it was.
I frequently am on the GNW Trail between Gary Avenue and County Farm Road. The location is beautiful but the surface has become very uneven for bicyclists as well as for runners. It is so uneven that runners risk sprained ankles. Is there a way you could even it out? Thank you.
Asphalt trail allows faster speeds compared to limestone trails. Vermont Cemetery Preserve is a good spot for railfanning (before wall) due to train tracks along Normantown Trail
This has been long overdue. From Harlem Ave. in Frankfort to Schoolhouse Rd. in New Lenox is getting resurfaced. As of 10/26/2022 Harlem to Wolf Rd. in Frankfort is complete. Now if they could resurface the rest too, it would be a 5 star trail.
Rode from Ballou to Manhattan, 2p mile round trip. TraIl is in excellent condition. Yrsil has a nice wind break on both sides of the trail for almost all of the ride. Will rode again.
They just replaced the first 4ish miles that start in Willow springs to the bridge, a serious game changer, the last three miles near lemont have bumps in the trails but that’s what happens when you build on a wetland near a river. freeze thaw expansion… the brewery at the end the best part
This trail is a nice one if you are looking for something other than a super straight rails to trails corridor. I parked at the nearby and beautiful DuPage County St James Forest Preserve and took a connecting trail to the start of the officially named West Branch DuPage River Trail that heads south. Most of the route is in Forest Preserves, alongside the West Branch of the DuPage River.
Once you come upon the spectacular Naperville Riverwalk, north of downtown Naperville which does not allow bikes, you must use city streets. That provides a nice variety. South of downtown the trail is again in parks. One can travel all the way south into Will County, with more options for connecting trails.
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