Favorite Biking Trails

[wzbt03]

Long Prairie Trail

This trail is located in the northern part of Boone County in Illinois and extends for just before Caledonia all the way to Capron.
It is paved asphalt for 14+ miles and runs parallel to hwy. 173.

A very easy going gentle grade through rural/prairie landscapes.

Very few intersecting highways which makes for great unobstructed stretches.

My coords from the ride:

Westernmost parking
I parked at N42 24.094 W088 57.610 and proceeded south on the Old Stone Bridge Trail (crushed limestone) for .4 miles and then hit the beginning of the Long Prairie Trail. This parking is for a county preserve in the area and many others use this to launch their bike trips as it is just feet from the trail.

Other parking is in Caledonia at:
N42 22.197 W088 53.551
Lots of spaces and probably a great starting point if you are coming via Madison.

Parking at Poplar Grove at:
N42 21.988 W088 49.274
Great place to grab lunch at one of three trailside cafes.
All have Chili Cheesedogs

Easternmost Point
Parking in Capron (the end of the trail for now – more construction headed east):
N42 23.923 W088 44.377

This is a great place for a family ride or a nice smooth paved trail.
I highly recommend it.

Now it would be great if others would list trails with parking coords in their areas with trail conditions etc.
I prefer bike trails to on-street biking and would like very much to know where all of these areas are near us as each community seems to be making their own now.

[Green Bay Paddlers]

Yeah – there really are a lot of great bike trails in Wisconsin and Illinois. I don’t have coords from my GPS but I pulled these coords from my Mapsend TOPO software – might not be 100% accurate.

My favorite Wisconsin (and I’m sure many others as well) is the Elroy Sparta. A beautiful bike trail with three railroad tunnels to bike through. Most “Rails-to-Trails” bike trails can be a little dull – but this one is GREAT! There are a couple of caches listed right on the trail. Parking coords: Not even able to get close on this… You can go to either town and easily find the starting points – they are well marked

Another beautiful bike trail is the Bearskin Trail which originates in Minocqua and goes south skirting (out-of-sight) Hwy 51. Amy and I bike that one last summer and had a beautiful trip. Parking coords: 45* 52.28′ 89* 42.81′

As for mountain biking – I grew up biking “Waterfall Glen” forest preserve near Lemont, IL as a child. Beautiful terrain and a nice mix of meadows, prarie savannah as well as wooded areas. Lot’s of great caches in the area. Parking coords: (this is where I park but you can follow the forest preserve signs as well to other parking areas) 41* 42.52′ 87* 57.61′ Also try any of the forest preserve trails in the Palos Park District. GREAT caching there!

Another mountain biking spot would be “Baird Creek” in Green Bay. (Home to “What’s Next?”‘s Wilderness Loop cache series as well as a few others). Beautiful (but tough) mountain biking trails over a variety of terrain. Parking coords: 44* 30.271′ 87* 56.547’ (These are correct…)

Happy biking.

[Ms. WISearcher]

I would agree with Green bay Paddlers that the Bearskin is a great trail! Very family friendly as well with not too many big hills (there is only one hill that I can think of)I have enjoyed it several times….

Also the Elroy Sparta is a lot of fun with camping along the way. Who doesn’t love a few cool tunnels?

If you ever get up to the more northern region of our state then you might consider trying the Gandy Dancer. It goes on forever (At least it seemed so for me). When I lived in St. Croix Falls I would jump on it and spend the day biking and never know where it ended. Nice level and well maintained.

[Cathunter]

I too have enjoyed the Gandy Dancer. There are a few fun caches along the trail themed to the Yeti (Bigfoot) sightings that were reported around Danbury. The possibility of running across Bigfoot adds another interesting aspect to the hunt.

[wzbt03]

And that is the type of information that really helps out.
I checked out the Gandy Dancer trail and we will be doing our annual bike trip in September up that way thanks to the information others have shared.
Looks just like what we wanted.

[wzbt03]

Just to revive this subject as fall moves into Wisconsin, I have decided to list the trails done in Wisconsin by myself and spouse this year and list which we enjoyed most in order of preference.

1- Red Cedar Trail – Menonomie – this one should be one fantastic ride in a week or two when the colors are out. Great scenic ride without the colors. 28 miles roundtrip

2- Military 400 Trail – Elroy – Nice ride through some great small towns. 22 miles one way.

3- Sparta Elroy Trail – Elroy – great tunnels and scenary. Nice places to camp near Wilton. 32 miles one way

4- Capital City Trail Loop – Madison – includes the Capital City Trail, Southwest commuter trail and the Wingra Trail. 18.1 miles roundtrip

5- Sugar River Trail – New Glarus – scenic countryside. 23 miles one way.

6- Glacial Drumlin Trail – Cottage Grove/Waukesha – variety of scenary and small town Wisconsin. 50+ miles one way

7- Military Ridge Trail – Verona – Varied trails through some neat towns. Some near highway. – 41+ miles

8- Gandy Dancer – St. Croix Falls – 90+ miles I think – we only did 30. Not as scenic as many of the others and towns not as quaint.

9- Glacial River Trail – Fort Atkinson – a nice short trail will limited scenary. 13 miles round trip.

10- Janesville City Trail – Janesville – 20+ miles paved biking but hard to follow if your not from town.

Any suggestions on good trails is always welcome.

Out of state trail we have done:

1- Paul Bunyan Trail – Peqout Minnesota – great paved trail through some neat towns and areas. 90+ miles I believe – we only did 45.

2- KATY Trail – St. Charles Missouri – 230 mile trail across Missouri – still working on this one. Nice big trail.

3- St. Joes State Park Trail – Missouri – great paved trail with history and hills – hard! – round trip biking

4- Long Prarie Trail – Calidonia, Illinois – a nice flat ride close to home. Very few roads to cross. Limited scenary.

5- Perryville Bike Trail – Rockton, Illinois – very busy roads.

6- Fox River Trail – Geneva, Illinois – nice area to bike and tons of caches along the trail – this is the ultimate geocachers bike trail.

[Author]

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