Chicago Trails

Join two easy loops through this peat-covered bog for a 3.3-mile hike that would make a botanist quake with envy.

Get a glimpse of glacial wetlands in northwest Illinois.

Explore wetlands and wooded hills in Illinois's largest state park.

Take a break from baiting hooks and hit the trail for this 4.8-mile loop around Shabbona Lake. You're guaranteed to catch lake views, dense woodland silence, and wetland vistas.

Oak forest, marshes, and small lakes highlight the rolling terrain on this 2.6-mile loop in Lakewood Forest Preserve.

A lush, green garden of waterfalls and giant pools awaits on the dells of Matthiessen State Park; this route tacks on a bluff-top viewpoint for 5.8-miles of prime Illinois day-hiking.

Look for the hidden surprises--wildflowers, turtles, a mineral-rich well, and even a historic greenhouse--on this family-friendly, 3.3-mile loop around Pilcher Park.

Link a network of hiking trails in Deer Grove Forest Preserve for a 9.3-mile meadow- and ravine-touring escape from the Windy City.

Explore deep woods, ancient dune ridges, and wetland thickets on sandy trail that loops 9.7 miles through the center of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

Wind through a hand-laid collection of wooded hills on an ancient glacial moraine on this 2.3-mile double loop northwest of Chicago.

Explore wetlands and the shores of Lake Michigan at the only hike-in beach in the Chicagoland area on this easy 2.3-mile loop through the southern side of Illinois Beach State Park.

Link a DuPage county high point, oak and hickory woodlands, a marshy pit-stop for migrating birds, and the hiding spot for a woolly mammoth on this 6.1-miler west of Chicago.

Link Morton Arboretum's gently rolling east side loops for a 3.4-mile tour cruising ornamental rhododendrons, an autumn rainbow of beech, and 500 acres of oak and sugar maple woodlands--a veritable smorgasbord for tree lovers.

Stroll native woodlands on this 1.6-miler through the north side of Morton Arboretum, a living museum that's home to more than 3,400 species of trees and plants.

Dip into 7 water-carved canyons on this 7.3-mile lollipop loop through the quieter side Starved Rock State Park. Soaring cascades (and a steep, stair-step climb) will take your breath away.

Wind, twist, bob and weave. This 2.7-mile loop on the west side of Starved Rock State Park hits some of the state’s most dramatic sandstone canyons, rocky cliffs, and wooded bluffs—all alongside the mighty Illinois River.

This 18-mile paved pathway is the Windy City's ultimate quick fix.