Chicago: White River State Trail
Grab your boots or hop on your bike to hit one of the Dairyland’s newer trails on this 11.8-mile out-and-back along an old railroad trestle.
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Trail Facts
- Distance: 9.6
Waypoints
WRT001
Location: 42.6600494384766, -88.5218505859375
Head SE onto crushed limestone trail, once the Soo Line RR that ran from Chicago to the Twin Cities
WRT002
Location: 42.6566123962402, -88.5094680786133
Pass under US 12 into rolling cornfi elds
WRT003
Location: 42.6478805541992, -88.4790573120117
Straight across Maclean Rd.
WRT004
Location: 42.6439590454102, -88.4652328491211
Cross CH-NN; surrounding terrain slopes off, filling nearby Lake Como after rains or snow
WRT005
Location: 42.6410446166992, -88.45703125
RR bed continues SE
WRT006
Location: 42.6377830505371, -88.4500274658203
Fifty-Footer Overlook: Wind blows ripples through surrounding amber fields and bird-rich wetlands. Good turnaround spot for a shorter hike
WRT007
Location: 42.6376190185547, -88.4427871704102
Cross Bowers Rd. More field rows and human-made pinnacles (silver corn silos)
WRT008
Location: 42.6413192749023, -88.4231414794922
Cross Weeks Rd. Head E (good tailwind for final stretch)
WRT009
Location: 42.6430206298828, -88.4136734008789
Reach rural burg of Springfield, WI, and the Pedal & Cup, a squat red house and former train depot (c. 1910) — now a hangout for local riders; retrace route to car
