Explore the best rated trails in Canton, IL. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the River Trail of Illinois (Carl Bud Schmitt Trail) and Sangamon Valley Trail. With more than 4 trails covering 63 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.
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The first 5.5-mile segment of the 38-mile Sangamon Valley Trail opened in summer 2011 and runs between Centennial Park and Stuart Park in Springfield. In 2017, a 6-mile extension was opened between...
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Caution:Beginning November 15, culvert replacement on the Rock Island Trail at Chanute Road will begin. This will involve removing the temporary bridge. This closure will last between 4 and 6...
The Pekin Park Bike Trail traverses more than 4 miles between Allentown Road and the Illinois River at Pekin bridge. The trail does a loop in Coal Miners' Park and passes through Mineral Springs Park,...
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Running from East Peoria to Morton, The River Trail of Illinois was resurfaced in summer 2011. From East Peoria, the hiking and biking trail travels southeast along the old Illinois Terminal Railway...
The first 5.5-mile segment of the 38-mile Sangamon Valley Trail opened in summer 2011 and runs between Centennial Park and Stuart Park in Springfield. In 2017, a 6-mile extension was opened between...
Caution:Beginning November 15, culvert replacement on the Rock Island Trail at Chanute Road will begin. This will involve removing the temporary bridge. This closure will last between 4 and 6...
The Pekin Park Bike Trail traverses more than 4 miles between Allentown Road and the Illinois River at Pekin bridge. The trail does a loop in Coal Miners' Park and passes through Mineral Springs Park,...
Running from East Peoria to Morton, The River Trail of Illinois was resurfaced in summer 2011. From East Peoria, the hiking and biking trail travels southeast along the old Illinois Terminal Railway...
Caution:Beginning November 15, culvert replacement on the Rock Island Trail at Chanute Road will begin. This will involve removing the temporary bridge. This closure will last between 4 and 6...
The first 5.5-mile segment of the 38-mile Sangamon Valley Trail opened in summer 2011 and runs between Centennial Park and Stuart Park in Springfield. In 2017, a 6-mile extension was opened between...
The Pekin Park Bike Trail traverses more than 4 miles between Allentown Road and the Illinois River at Pekin bridge. The trail does a loop in Coal Miners' Park and passes through Mineral Springs Park,...
Running from East Peoria to Morton, The River Trail of Illinois was resurfaced in summer 2011. From East Peoria, the hiking and biking trail travels southeast along the old Illinois Terminal Railway...
We ride a gravel tandem and the surface of this trail was easy to ride on. Mostly packed dirt that road bikes can handle (we saw a few). Yes, we did see a few "critter holes" in the trail, so there needs to be some attention paid there; however, there weren't so many as to be a pain - you do need to watch the trail surface, though. Our ride started at the Alta Trailhead and we turned around at the Princeville Trailhead, near the RR crossing. In the town of Dunlap, the trail transitions to local streets, but they weren't busy (we rode on a Thursday). The signage in town could be a little more clear at the transition points.
I started at Morton. The trail is well maintained and has a number of benches and tool stations. It was a little confusing going across two four lane roads. The trail goes under huge electric transmission lines. I went to the river and stopped there and didn’t go across the bridge. On the way back a very nice local biker ride with me and talked me through all the uphills back to Morton. He was an angel
We cycled the 11.5 miles of the trail. There are two main trailheads in Springfield that we know about: Centennial Park at 5938 Bunker Hill Rd and Stuart Dog Park at 1800 Winch Rd. We parked at Stuart Park and began our ride there. The trail is 11.5 miles and the park is midway.
We cycled the entire path first heading south towards Centennial Park. Most of that section is shaded. About 1.5 miles from the end, there are a few road crossings. The road crossings were easy since that section has quite of few farms remaining and are low traffic areas. However, there are a few developments that are starting to encroach on what was farmland. We turned around at mile zero and headed back towards Stuart Park to continue north.
The section north of Stuart has a bit more of a rural feel. I don’t recall any road crossings on this section. The trail was mostly shaded except for one short section that was in full sun. There is a section with a fairly long bridge over the river which was a surprise.
The trail is very well maintained. There are a number of benches along that trail but only the trailheads had amenities. We cycled on a weekday and the trail wasn’t very busy. This is a great trail that I would recommend checking out.
We rode from the Wyoming access to Alta & back, 40ish miles. Pretty much had the trail to ourselves. One needs to watch for huge burrows (ground hog? burrowing squirrels?) and those cute chipmunks dashing across the trail. Well maintained hard dirt trail with crushed gravel, some muddy areas. Since this was a Sunday, there were no coffee shops open in the little towns.
To clarify: The Rock Island Trail is an Illinois state park and goes from Alta to Toulon. It does not include the trail owned by the Peoria Park District known as the Keller Branch although one starts where the other stops - at Alta. The Rock Island Trail is approx 26 miles long therefore not 38. This may be a difference without a distinction for most users but for those looking to set an FKT on the Rock Island Trail the world should understand exactly what the Rock Island Trail is and is not.
My wife and I road from Toulon to a little past Princeville and back to Toulon (30 miles) in the snow on our fat bikes. There was about three inches of snow. The tree lined trail was beautiful. Highly recommended for winter riding. We were the only set of bike tracks and saw three people in 6 hours.
Nice paved trail. 1st time riding this. Rode from East Peoria to Morton. It's uphill most of the way but no real taxing hills. Long inclines. It looks like trail maintenance is complete. The ride back from Morton was the reward! Downhill 75% of the way. Will be riding this trail again.
The only bad thing was the small bugs which kept hitting me. Make sure you have eye protection and keep your mouth closed so you don't suck a bug down your throat!
I in-line skated on this trail July 1,2020 and it was in great condition. Mostly uphill from East Peoria to Morton, and well worth it for the enjoyable downhill skate back toward Peoria.
Very nice paved 12 mile trail from Centennial Park to Irwin bridge road the SVT has a lot of tree coverage. Has limited parking so but several access points. The trail highlight is the bridge that crosses Sangamon River which a young Abraham Lincoln navigated. You can ride on the road 2 miles to Athens,Il on the northern end of the trail.
Very nice paved 12 mile trail from Centennial Park to Irwin bridge road the SVT has a lot of tree coverage. Has limited parking so but several access points. The trail highlight is the bridge that crosses Sangamon River which a young Abraham Lincoln navigated. You can ride on the road 2 miles to Athens,Il on the northern end of the trail.
Left from East Peoria getting through town was slow as crosswalks were not very speedy but it was a good ride some incline and well kept.
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