I just took a 19 mile ride out on the Busse Woods trail and it was so beautiful this time of year  that I just had to mention it even though I do not have photos this time (I usually bring my camera when I go on new trails or trails that I have not been on for quite a while but this was just a last minute casual ride).

Anyway, I noticed that the photos that we have posted on this site for the Busse Woods Trail, were also from October, although they were from a few years back. So see our Busse Woods Trail Pages for some nice fall photos of the trail.

I crossed the bridge in the photo below and it looked a lot like it does in this panoramic photo (from a few years back, not today’s ride).

Busse Woods Bridge Crossing

Getting back to the trail itself, as I mentioned in our article on this trail, this trail can get crowded on really nice prime time days so I really like riding the trail at off time whenever possible.

Today (Friday) is still a work day but the weather is excellent and I think some people may have been getting an early start on the weekend. Anyway, there were people out on the trail, of course, but it was not really all that crowded or congested at all.

As for my ride, I started at one of the forest preserve entrances off of Golf Road which is next to the “Black Trail” leg which is where I got on the trail. I just hate the intersection where you have to cross Higgins / Route 72 by Route 53 so I planned my route to avoid having to cross there and it worked out great.

I took the “Black Trail” to where it hits the “Red Trail” (close to the Higgins Road intersection) and then went east  from there.  I ended up doin the entire Red Trail all the way around (on both sides of Higgins (since it has a bridge to cross on the east side (by the Elk)) to the bad intersection at Higgins.

This was only 8.5 miles so rather than crossing Higgins, I turned around here  and went back the way I came. I also did the “Purple Trail” (that goes out to Alexian Brothers Hospital) on the way back for a few extra miles.

 See the Busse Woods MAP (photo) here if the route that I’ve described  is hard to understand.

So my trip ended up being 19 miles and I never had to cross an intersection (except where the bridge crosses over Higgins).

I live not too far from this trail but it is not within easy bike riding distance so I do not make it out there very often. I had forgotten how beautiful Busse Woods can be, especially in the fall, so I have just decided that I will definitely try to make it out to this trail a few more times this year (if the weather cooperates!)