Mammoth Cave Trail in Kentucky
I have just completed 3 trail articles, with ride reports, photos and videos for the new trails that we have ridden this fall.
The trail names in the blog title are the shortened versions. The full names of the new trail articles on this site, with the links are:
- Mammoth Cave Trail – Kentucky
- Wauponsee Glacial Trail – Illinois
- Hennepin Canal Trail – Illinois
Below is just a very brief summary of each trail. See the individual trail articles (the links above) for more information on each trail.
I rode the Mammoth Cave Trail (MCT) in Kentucky in October while I was on a trip down south. This is actually the first non-Illinois, non-Wisconsin trail that I posted on this site but I hope to venture out and include more out of state trails soon.
The MCT is an 8 mile biking and hiking trail in the Mammoth Cave National Park. It is not a trail within a cave as the name might indicate. The trail is crushed stone (and gravel in some places) and is VERY hilly. It’s a really nice trail but probably a little better to ride with a mountain bike (than with a road bike like I used).
Hennepin Canal Trail – Photo compliments of Dale Kiffel
We rode the Hennepin Canal Trail (HCT) in late September of this year. There is a north/south section of this trail and an east/west section. The entire trail (and canal) is about 104 miles!
We rode about 30 miles on this trail heading south out of Rock Falls, Illinois. The trail surface (for this part of the trail) is a combination of paved, crushed stone, gravel and dirt and is in pretty bad shape in many places. This was a difficult trail for a long ride. Once again this trail would probably be better with a mountain bike.
Wauponsee Glacial Trail
We rode the Wauponsee Glacial Trail (WGT) that runs from Joliet, Illinois to the Kankakee River at Custer Park, back in early September.
The WGT is a fairly straight and flat trail that runs through the prairies and fields of northern Illinois.
It is not the most scenic trail that I have been on but it was definitely a pleasant trail to ride. The trail was not crowded and the surface was in very good condition. It seemed like the north central part of the trail, where we started, was a little more open as it ran through the prairies and fields while the southern part, near the Kankakee River was a little more wooded.
I have created short videos for the Hennepin Canal Trail and the Wauponsee Glacial Trail on YouTube. I think these came out well and can be found at the bottom of the pages for these 2 bike trail articles (the links above).
To get to all 49 trails documented on this website see the Bike Trails Page on this site.