The bike trail descriptions and bike trail photos presented here are primarily of bike trails that are accessible from the Chicagoland area, since this is where my friends (who have written many of the articles) and myself live. 
Most (but not all) of the trail descriptions are Illinois
and Wisconsin bike trails. This is not intended to be a comprehensive
listing of all major trails in these states, but has plenty of first hand descriptions and lots of great bike trail photos from
those of us who have ridden these trails.
Algonquin Road Trail 
(14.5 miles) - The descriptions and photo tour of the Algonquin Road bike Trail (connecting to and aka: Paul Douglas / Crabtree Bike Trail ) from Peregrine Park (Palatine), around Harper
College, northwest along Algonquin Road and Paul Douglas Forest Preserve and finally to
Penny Road (South Barrington).
Busse Woods Bike Trail The Busse Woods Bike Trail in Busse Woods Forest
Preserve, Cook County Illinois, from October, 2005. I started this ride at the Elk Herd
(just off of Arlington Heights Road, north of the Higgins road intersection) and took the
main (red) loop, the northern (black) leg, the leg that goes along Beisner road (purple)
and the Elk Grove community bridge leg that crosses
Route 290.
Chicago Lakefront Trail The Chicago Lakefront Bike Trail (18 miles) from Kathy Osterman Beach, at Hollywood Avenue (just north of Lincoln Park), on the north end, through downtown Chicago (at the lakefront), to 71st Street (just past Jackson Park) on the southern end of the trail.
Deer Grove Bike Path (Illinois). (7.5m) - This is a nice bike path that also connects to the Palatine
Trail (4.8m) at Dundee and Quentin roads via the Dear Grove Forest Preserve.
Des Plaines River
Trail (Illinois). (39m) A nice crushed stone trail with some wooded and shaded
areas mixed with sunny prairie sections. Traffic on the trail is a little lighter than
some of the others in this area (probably due to the crushed stone surface). Most of the
highway intersections are bridge underpasses so you can do quite a distance, non stop
without having to deal with highway crossings.
Evanston Laketront Bike Paths - The Evanston Lakefront Bikeways run along the Lake Michigan shoreline on bike paths, bike lanes, sidewalks and university roads through Evanston, Illinois.
Fox
River Bike Trail North [1] The trail descriptions and bike trail photos included here are
the northern part of the Fox River Trail only from East Dundee Illinois north to Algonquin
Illinois.
Fox
River Bike Trail South [1] The trail descriptions and bike trail photos included here are
the southern part of the Fox River Trail from Geneva Illinois north to
Dundee Illinois.
Great River Trail, Illinois (60m) A nice article on the
Illinois Great River Trail from Carlos from Chicago. A nice ride report, detailed descriptions, info and photos.
Great Western Bike Trail (Illinois 18m) - A nice article on the
Great Western Bike Trail from Dale Kiffel. First hand descriptions and some nice photos on
a warm summers ride from St. Charles to Sycamore Illinois.
Green Bay Bike
Trail - The Green Bay Bike Trail, Robert McClory and North Shore
Trails, descriptions and photos from Great Lakes, Il. to Glencoe Illinois. Photos of the
Green Bay Trail and Robert McClory Bike path.
I&M
Canal Bike Trail (Illinois) is about 58 miles one way from Chanahon to LaSalle/Peru
Illinois and is built from the original canal tow path. The path is not crowed and passes
through a number of small towns along the way.
Illinois Prairie Path -
(Illinois - 61m) the first U.S. rails to trails bike trail, the longest in northeast Illinois (when you include
all of the branches) and possibly the most confusing because of it's name
(Prairie) and various branches or sections. This tour starts at the Fox
River Trail, Elgin Branch intersection.
Illinois State Beach Bike Path The Illinois State Beach Bike Paths
run along the Lake Michigan beaches and are an absolutely beautiful and
scenic place to ride. Take your bike and your swimming suit, for a great
day at the beach and a nice bike ride by Lake Michigan...
Inverness Bike Trail (Illinois). (11.2 m) - There are
some great biking roads in Inverness if you know where to go and how to get there. This
article includes a detailed map of this particular Inverness road trip, which is East of
Ela Road, West of Roselle road, North of Algonquin and South of Dundee (68) and Northwest
Highway (14). This is the eastern part of Inverness.
Long
Prairie Bike Trail (Northern Illinois 14.2m). An uncrowded paved trail that is fairly
flat and goes through open prairie as well as shady tree tunnels. Descriptions and photos.
(some info and pictures of the connecting Stone Bridge Trail)
Millennium Trail (12 miles) - The Millennium Trail is a hilly and scenic, mostly crushed stone trail in Lake County, Illinois. See our Ride Report, Trail Info, Map and Photos from Mundelein to Volo, Illinois.
Moraine Hills Trails (11 miles) - The Moraine Hills State park, south east of McHenry, has over 11 miles of scenic biking through quite a diverse area of wetlands, hills and fairly thick wooded areas.
North Branch Trail (15 miles) - The North Branch Trail winds through the forest preserves in northern suburbs of Chicago and northern edge of Chicago following the North Branch of the Chicago River and the Skokie River.
North Shore Bike Path (16.1 miles) is great east-west
bike trail that connects to some of the nicest North-South bike trails in the North and
Northwest suburban area of Chicago. (connect the Des Plaines River Trail (above) with the
Green Bay Trail (below)).
The Palatine Bike Trail -
I have done the Palatine Trial numerous times and have recently checked the distance on my
bike odometer and it is 4.8 miles (one way). The eastern side of the trail is in more of a
residential area where as the western side gets a little more wooded and eventually
connects to the Deer Grove bike Path.
The Paul Douglas Trail (14.5 miles) - This is another name for the Algonquin Road Trail.
The Poplar Creek Bike Trail -
(10 miles) This is a nice paved trail in the northwest Chicago suburban area (Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Streamwood). There's very nice scenery around Bode Lake but there are quite a few busy roads to cross on this path.
Prairie Trail [1 ]The Prairie Trail (Illinois - 25.9m) from Algonquin(south) to Genoa City Wisconsin (north)
was once Chicago and Northwestern rail line that ran from Kane county into Wisconsin...
This section has first hand detailed descriptions and photos.
The Prospect Heights Trail (5 miles)
is a short pleasant trail of about 5 miles that begins across the street from the Prospect Heights Metra station at Wolf and Camp McDonald road and pretty much follows the Com Ed power line easement to Schoenbeck Road - Article and photos by Howard Lange
The Randall Road Trail This is a short 4 mile trail that connects the River Bend Trail (or Silver Glen trail) to the Great Western Trails.
The River Bend Trail The River Bend Trail connects the Fox River Trail (just before the long bridges in South Elgin) to the Randall Road and Great Western Trails.
Robert
McClory Bike Path The Robert McClory Bike Path (25 miles) connects
to the Green Bay Bike Trail on it's southern end and the Kenosha Trail
(Wisconsin) on it's northern end. The trail has some very nice areas and
some not so nice areas... Check out the article for more...
The Silver Glen Trail This is another name for The River Bend Trail.
The Skokie Valley Bike Path - The Skokie Valley Bike Path from Lake Bluff in the north to Highland Park. Although not a scenic ride, this trail has benefits with connecting trails and paved, straight and flat surface for speed and workouts.
Wisconsin Bike
Trails
Here are the
detailed descriptions and photos of our Wisconsin Bike Trails (now in alphabetical order by trail name).
Ahnapee Bike Trail -
Detailed descriptions and photos of the Ahnapee Bike Trail from Sturgeon Bay to Casco. Article and photos by Dale Kiffel
BATS Crystal Lake Trail near Boulder Junction, Wisconsin. BATS is an acronym for "Boulder Junction
Area Trail System." Right now its northern edge is the quaint town
of Boulder Junction. Article by Bob Cummings
Elroy
Sparta Bike Trail (Wisconsin) - 32 miles of scenic bike trail from Sparta to Elroy
Wisconsin built from the old Chicago and Northwestern railroad bed. First hand
descriptions and plenty of photos of the Elroy-Sparta bike trail (and the 3 awesome
tunnels) from Sparta Wisconsin south and east to Elroy Wisconsin. Part of the Bike 4 Trail
System
Great-River-Trail - The Great River State Trail is a 24 mi bike
trail that follows the abandoned Chicago and Northwestern railroad bed. The trail
traverses a mixture of prairie and marshy bottomlands. It passes through the communities
of Onalaska, Midway, Trempealeau, and two wildlife refuges. - Part of the Bike 4 Trail
System. Article and photos by Dale Kiffel.
LaCrosse-River-Trail - The La Crosse River State Trail is a 22 mile rails to trail that also follows the
abandoned Chicago and Northwestern railroad bed and connects to the Great River Trail on the west end and the Elroy-Sparta
trail on the east. Article and photos by Dale Kiffel.
Peninsula State
Park Trail - Peninsula state park bike trail at Fish Creek in Wisconsin's Door County
peninsula on the shores of Lake Michigan. Article and photos by Dale Kiffel.
Red
Cedar Trail - (Wisconsin) - Detailed description and photo tour of the Red Cedar State
trail located near Menomonie, Wisconsin - Article and photos by Bob Cummings.
Here is a nice reference for Bicycle Trails in
Wisconsin. (Mike Bentleys site.)
