This past Sunday I selected a bike trail  in our area ~ from my master bike trail map ~ that I had not yet ridden. Although I have ridden bike trails that connect to this bike path and very close to it, I had never ridden the Skokie Valley Bike Path (until now).

The yellowish tunnel on the Skokie Valley Bike Path

This bike trail is in a nice area (Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Highland Park) but it is really not a scenic trail at all. It runs under a row of power lines, along a major highway (Skokie Highway, Route 41) and through some industrial and commercial areas. I had my camera and my bike GPS computer with me so I have written a trail page article on it and have photographed the trail and posted the pictures.

You can find the Skokie Valley Bike Path Article here.

Keep in mind that, although this bike path runs along the Skokie Hwy it does not go to or through the city of Skokie.

Although this bike path is not very scenic it does still have some good features.  First of all it provides a good connection between the North Shore Bike Trail near Lake Bluff to Highland Park and to the Botanic Gardens, a little past the southern end of the Skokie Valley trail.

Since this bike trail is paved, straight, mostly flat and does not have many intersections that you need to cross, it is also good for speed and a good workout.

I ran out of time on my ride but I wish that I would have had the opportunity to ride through the Botanic Gardens after I reached the southern end of the SV Bike Path (at Lake Cook Road in Highland Park). You can also connect to the North Branch Trail(s) from the Botanic Gardens and continue south from there if you like.

Well this is the time of year to get out and explore new bike paths and I already have my next one selected for later this afternoon. So stay tuned (stop back soon), I will be posting more bike trail ride reports and photos soon!