If the return of reliably nice weather puts you in the mood for a short getaway, one route out of your daily rut may be a bike path. May is when Chicago’s weather tends to be at its best — it’s no longer cold and not yet humid — which makes this the ideal time to pedal along a river’s edge, beneath some majestic oaks or through a picturesque suburban downtown.
In and around Chicago run many great bike paths. While they aren’t yet all linked together into a sensible transportation system, they make recreational biking accessible and attractive for virtually anyone in the region who’s interested.
May 14-23 is Bike Week in Chicago, a time when City Hall highlights its efforts to enhance bike friendliness on city streets and bike paths and encourages people to try biking to work. But all of May should really be designated Bike Month throughout the city and suburbs. There’s no better time to trade four wheels for two.
Chances are you already know your nearest trail pretty well. So why not take a spin on a new path? Think of it as a micro-vacation, a few hours spent touring some far-off place close to home.
The city’s lakefront looks twice as spectacular when viewed from a bike, and some postcard-pretty forest preserves are best appreciated when you roll through them. Some bike paths thread their way through charming old towns on the North Shore or in DuPage County, and others run alongside limestone outcroppings and centuries-old stands of trees.
Thanks to our relatively flat terrain, anyone who’s in average-to-good shape can cover about 10 or 12 miles in an hour’s ride — enough to get a good long look at the green miracle of spring but not so much that you feel wrung out at the end. On many of the trails, riders can go for miles without having to interact with cars, which in itself is a genuine break from daily life.
Here are some of the best bike paths in the region. They are mostly off-street paths, with a few street crossings, unless otherwise indicated.
Des Plaines River Trail: Except for a three-fourths-mile gap in Gurnee, this Lake County trail rambles all the way from Russell Road near the Wisconsin line to Half Day Road in Lincolnshire. The gap can be filled with some street riding, but they’re very busy streets. It’s best to think of the northern 11-mile stretch and the southern 12 miles as two separate trails. Both cover scenic terrain. It’s mostly woods and prairies on the south, but in the north the trails wind through a breathtaking wetlands complex. For information: 847-367-3692.
Fox River Trail: Hugging the side of the Fox River for 35 miles as it winds through Kane County from Algonquin down to Montgomery, the Fox River Trail strings together the charming downtowns of historic river towns while also offering some exquisite natural scenery. The northernmost portion of the trail, in McHenry County, zigs when the river zags, and becomes the Prairie Trail, stretching into Crystal Lake and ending at Crystal Lake Avenue and Main Street. For information: 630-232-5980.
Great Western Trail: Ride this one this year, while the 18-mile stretch of Kane County it covers between St. Charles and Sycamore along an old rail bed is still mostly semi-rural. Subdivisions are rising around it, and more may come. For now, the views are of wide open rural space, some of it farmland and some woods and natural areas. For information: 630-232-5980.
Green Bay Trail/Robert R. McClory Path/North Shore Trail: This string of paths runs directly from Wilmette to downtown Highland Park, mostly right alongside the Metra tracks but with some side trips onto streets. In Highland Park it connects with the Robert R. McClory Path, which extends north to Lake Bluff, then west along Illinois Highway 176 to Mundelein. From Lake Bluff, riders can also continue north on the North Shore Path in a beeline for the Wisconsin border. The route to Mundelein totals about 24 miles; the route to Wisconsin about 30. Along the way, cyclists see the rear view of some North Shore neighborhoods, several lovely downtown areas (in a few of which it’s easy to lose the trail, so carry a map), and a few bits of remaining open land. For information on the Lake County sections, call 847-362-3950. In Cook County, call the village halls of Wilmette 847-251-2700, Kenilworth 847-251-1666, Winnetka 847-501-6000 and Glencoe 847-835-4114.
Illinois Prairie Path: The longest continuous path in the area, the Prairie Path starts at 1st Avenue and Adams Street in Maywood and runs west to Wheaton, where it splits into a northwest fork that extends to Elgin and a southwest fork to Aurora. Additional spurs run to Batavia and Geneva, and several smaller trails intersect with it. Most of the 37-mile system is a former railbed, but two stretches, in Hillside and Villa Park-Lombard, are on streets. The Prairie Path tours a genuine cross-section of Chicagoland, coursing past high-priced and low-priced neighborhoods, forest preserves and retail districts. Riding along, it’s easy to picture the electric commuter trains that once zipped along the same route, knitting together what were then far more isolated towns. Call 630-752-0120 for a free map, or send $3 for a detailed color map to P.O. Box 1086, Wheaton, Ill. 60189. Or check out the Web site: www.ipp.org.
Lakefront Path: Surely one of the great jewels of outdoor Chicago, the Lakefront Path is an 18-mile ribbon that runs along the magnificent lakefront from Ardmore Avenue, 5800 north, to 71st Street, 7100 south. Sometimes running right on the rim of the water, and at other times ducking inland a bit, this trail offers prime views of the high-rises and parks strung along the edge of the inland sea. It’s not only the best-looking but also the most crowded bike path in the region, especially on the North Side between Navy Pier and Lincoln Park. It’s used by runners, walkers and rollerbladers as well as by cyclists, which sometimes leads to annoying traffic jams.
The South Side stretch is less crowded, and the views of the Loop are better, too, making a ride from the South Shore Country Club north to McCormick Place doubly enjoyable. Street-riding from the Lakefront Path’s north end connects to Evanston’s shorter but pretty lakefront path, and on the south can carry riders all the way to the Indiana state line and beyond.
North Branch Trail: The best trail for getting out of town, the North Branch Trail starts at Milwaukee and Devon Avenues in the city and runs through 20 miles of forest preserves on its way to the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe. It stays close to the North Branch of the Chicago River. There are some busy streets to cross, but the path traverses a few of the biggest on footbridges. The route is largely through woods, with some stretches of prairie and some residential neighborhoods. Call 708-771-1330.
Salt Creek Trail: Starting north of the Brookfield Zoo’s north parking lots and snaking through forest preserve land to Bemis Woods south of Westchester, this leafy trail is an easy, well-trafficked route in the near west suburbs. Call 708-771-1330.
Tinley Creek Trail: This 19-mile system winds through several forest preserves in the south suburbs, with one two-mile stretch through neighborhoods in Palos Heights. Prairies and old woodlands dot the route, and there are some hilly stretches. Call 708-771-1330.
Waterfall Glen: The 8.5-mile path through forest preserve land surrounding Argonne National Laboratory is one of the best doughnuts you’ll ever see. It goes through vast prairies and deeply shaded woods, with a few steep hills. Be sure to stop for a look at the stunning artificial waterfall on the southeast side. It’s not the source of the name for this place; that honor goes to a onetime forest preserve commissioner named Waterfall. Really. Call 630-933-7248.
GET A HANDLE ON LOCAL BIKING
Here are some resources that will help you find and plan a new bike route:
– An excellent map of all the area’s bike paths is available from the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation for $6.95. Look for it in bike and sports specialty shops, or call the organization at 312-427-3325. It shows the exact route of each trail listed here.
– The book “Country Walks Near Chicago,” by Alan Fisher (Rambler Books, $8.95), has detailed descriptions of the path around Waterfall Glen and parts of the Prairie Path and the Des Plaines River Trail, as well as of several other trails in the region.
– Another book, “Biking on Trails Between Chicago & Milwaukee,” by Peter Blommer (Blommer Books, $14.95), is a handy reference even if you don’t want to make the entire 96-mile trek.
