Whether you a casual city biker or a high endurance OG biker who can gun 50+ miles all the way to Wisconsin, Chicago offers plenty of biking trails to whet your appetite.

Busse Woods’ famed biking track during Fall

Here are some of the highly recommended biking trails (in order of trail length):

1. Busse Woods
7 miles (loop trail)
Surface: Paved
Region: Rolling Meadows (North-West Chicago suburb)

Busse Woods is an absolute gem during Fall

Busse Woods is a mammoth 3500+ acre preserve offering hiking, biking, kayaking, elk watching and so much more.

Flat, paved surface makes it perfect for all ages

I find it as one of THE best biking spots around Chicago – boasts of scenic winding trails, bridges, vast open grasslands, fishing lakes, large paddling lake, ek pasture land, fall foliage and more.

Don’t miss the famed elk pasture while you are there, the 7-mile red loop will cover most areas.

Pair of elks, courtesy FPDCC

2. Cal-Sag Trail
13 miles
Surface: Asphalt.
Region: Lemont (South-West Chicago suburb) to Alsip.

Cal-Sag is a gorgeous hiking-biking trail which meanders across Cal-Sag channel and Little Calumet River.

Cal-Sag channel with trail on the right

Please find the FPDCC map link here.

Tip: Would highly recommend clubbing this with Lake Katherine Nature Center. Hikers can hike at the Nature Center and bikers can go on Cal-Sag.

3. Fox River Trail
45 miles (one way)
Surface: Asphalt and Concrete mostly.
Region: City of Aurora to Algonquin, meandering around Fox River.

Plenty of shade across the path

My favorite way to navigate this is to park at Red Oak Nature Center, enjoy the ride to Batavia and enjoy the ice cream at coveted Batavia Creamery.

Kids enjoying Aurora Riverfront Park on the trail

4. Illinois Prairie Path
58 miles (one way)
Surface: Crushed stones, asphalt.
Region: Stretches across Aurora, Elgin, Batavia, Maywood.

One of the most coveted rails-to-trails conversion projects – Illinois Prairie Path offers easy terrain which is suitable for all ages. The trail is not too busy and offers scattered shade.

Tip: Don’t be overwhelmed with the size – 58 miles. You can access parts of the trail to ride to many nature preserves. My favorite one is the 8 miles out-and-back Diehl Road access to reach Blackwell Forest Preserve. The Strava link for the ride is here.

Prairie Path cuts through main roads sometimes

You can check the official trail map here and choose your in-and-out branch. The route has dozens of entry/exit points off main roads spanning several cities.

We hit horse ranches on our way westward on this trail!

5. Illinois & Michigan (I &M) Canal State Trail
80 miles (one-way) – many short trails in between.
Surface: Asphalt, Grass, Gravel, Crushed Stones.
Region: Lemont, Palos Heights, Joliet (South-West Chicago suburbs)

I biked on I&M canal trail while visiting McKinley Woods. Here is a great list of all biking trails on I&M canal.

Other Recommendations

Here are some of the other very sought after biking trails in Chicago region:

Great Western Trail
North Branch Trail
Lake Front Trail
Skokie Valley Bike Trail
Deer Grove Trail
Salt Creek Trail

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