Explore the best rated trails in Peoria, IL, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Constitution Trail & Historic Route 66 Trail and El Paso Walking Trail . With more than 7 trails covering 3941 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.
We ( recumbent trike & e-bike) headed West from the Kiwanis park. Turned around after 9km as the surface was really tough on the trike. There’s 2 good wheel tracks for bikes, but the trike had to ride partially in the coarse trail ballast. Scenic area with farm views and a huge windmill farm in the distance.
I walked the whole trail this past Saturday, starting in Toulon and heading south(ish) to Peoria. From a pedestrian perspective, this is two distinct trails.
From Toulon to Alta is a crushed limestone rail trail which runs mostly through farmland. Large portions of it pass through a beautiful tunnel of trees. Each town involves a short road walk, which offer good options for snacks etc. I'd certainly walk this 25 miles again.
From Alta to the waterfront in Peoria is a paved interurban trail that spends lots of time in suburban back yards. If you like miles of fences, apartments, etc, this section is for you. The trail is signed in this section, but I still found myself referring to a GPS map to make sure I was on track. The last several miles (heading south) are relatively steeply downhill to the waterfront. I would not walk this section again.
We started downtown Peoria and parked at the big lot at the park on Eaton Street. This parking lot has plenty of spaces and seemed to be safe. We do not live around here so all of this was new to us.
The trail was a tiny bit hard to follow in the beginning when we had to cross public streets and there was a good amount of traffic. If you want to avoid the public streets and traffic (especially if you are riding with children) then park closer to the zoo and go riding from that area. The trail does cross over many farm roads but these roads did not have a single moving vehicle on them when we were riding. There are stop signs and it is very safe to cross over these narrow two lane country roads.
We rode all the way to Princeville and then back.....I have to admit we RAN OUT OF BATTERIES on our ebikes. It was really hard to make it back the final 5 miles but we made it!
The trail is a mix of newer asphalt, ground limestone and crushed stone. There are a few spots that are pretty bumpy from tree roots pushing up the asphalt. You do have to pay attention to these areas because they are pretty bad. There were also a few spots where there was crushed stone that had some deep indentations from previous rain storms would be my guess. Your tires could kinda get stuck so just pay attention.
The trail is about 95% flat and very shady. There were spots that definitely had more people that were walking and riding and those areas where near the homes that back up to the trail in some areas. This trail seems to be very clean and safe for people of all ages.
Trail is well marked and maintained . Even though I rode this trail right after a thunder storm, it was still usable. I was impressed with the natural drainage . The tree coverage was beautiful. I hope to return in the fall !
The description is incorrect. This trail is not fit for road bikes. It's a shame that the Great American Rail Rrail put this as a gateway trail as it is in such disrepair and neglect. What a mess.
As several reviews note some sections are in poor repair and you will feel safest on a mtb or hybrid. But the text that 1.3 million people use it seems nuts as I have often ridden sections for 2 or 3 hours and seen only a couple of folks fishing and almost no one on the trail itself. Has very good birding (eagles, owls, waterfowl, whatever is migrating), decent waterfowl, easy to let your dog off leash as the trail is usually bounded by woods of a few dozen yards that screen you from the farmland that makes up almost all of the adjacent land. The locks are nice stopping/camping spots, it crosses over a couple of rivers which is an engineering marvel and the raspberries and mulberries are abundant in season. Not every bike trail has to be smooth pavement so be prepared and enjoy.
The main positive is that this corridor is preserved so that someday it can be improved into an actual usable trail for bicycles. Depending on where you are on this trail today the quality of the surface and whether it is passable by bicycle varies. It appears that it may have been nice at one point but most of the surface has been allowed to degrade. Attempts to repair in many places are with aggregate that is too large to be bicycle friendly. Washouts along the side await to wreck you into the old canal.
Large sections are barely maintained at all. Weeds and tree branches have overgrown the path and they hit you as you ride. There are long stretches with no services or water. If this is going to be part of the Great American Rail Trail there will need to be some resources allocated to make it more rider friendly (if planning to connect to the I&M Canal trail you will find similar conditions there).
Although there was a lot of loose gravel and some trees were overgrown, the river views were amazing
My husband and I decided to stop on our cross country trek to take a short ride from the Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park to the Bridge 17A marker. I was apprehensive and almost didn’t stop due to so many so-so reviews. I chose this section because it leaves the noise of I-80 behind. This ride had everything I look for in a trail ride. Beautiful scenery, bird life, etc. A 10 mile out and back that should have only taken an hour or so, stretched to over 2 hours as we kept stopping to take in the scenery and snap pictures. The trail surface here is a pebbly gravel and easy enough for a hybrid bike. If you want to go far fast, this may not be for you. But if you are biking to get out and enjoy the scenery, this is a great choice. There was no water and only a toilet at the State park. Maybe if we had gone further we might have encountered services. There is little or no tree cover and since it was a beautiful 70 degree day for us, that wasn’t an issue. I imagine in the heat of summer this might not be enjoyable.
Enjoyed our ride both east and west from Sheffield from a beauty and historic standpoint but the state of IL does not maintain the trail at all. East of Sheffield there are lots of locks but the trail goes from fair to poor, to decent. Lots of branches and debris on the trail so need a mountain type bike. About 6 miles west of Sheffield the trail turns into a field with overgrown trees and then you are making your own trail. Too bad the state of IL doesn't believe in maintaining its infrastructure that could attract tourism. Didn't see hardly anyone on the trail during a June weekend.
Rode this trail yesterday from central Bloomington to where it ends north of Towanda. Trail is in very good condition and easy to ride. I felt safe along the trail - it is far enough away from the old Route 66 Hwy. which was a plus! There are ample stopping/resting points along the way if needed. Now this trail needs to be completed all the way to Lexington and northward from there! ¿
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