Last week I added the Millennium Trail to the list of bike trails that I’ve ridden in the Chicagoland area. I brought my camera with me, of course, so I could photograph the trail and post the ride report and photos of this trail on this website.
A scenic and wooded part of the Millennium Trail
I actually ended up riding this trail 2 times due to a camera problem. On my first ride I discovered that my lens filter (that I use to protect the camera lens) was broken. I have no idea how that happened but I did not want to ride this crushed stone trail without a lens filter so I just left the camera in my car.
For my first ride I parked in a subdivision near the south-east end of the trail just west of Mundelein. There is actually a section of the trail that extends into Mundelein but it just runs right along Route 176, Hawley Street and is straight and not very scenic so I skipped that part of the trail (although it is clearly visible from the road). I rode just over 12 miles (both ways) on my first ride and I got a good feel for the trail.
For my second ride ~ when I took the photos ~ I parked at the Lakewood Forest Preserve parking lot off of Fairfield Road ~ which is right on the trail and has easy access ~ and rode to the south-east end of the trail (where I started the day before) then headed north and west and rode the entire trail.
The Millennium Trail is actually a really nice trail in Lake County. It’s very hilly in some parts and almost all crushed stone (except for the far northern section and the part that goes into Mundelein). There are some places where the crushed stone is a little thick and loose so you need to be aware of these parts if you have a road bike (like I do) or if you are going fairly fast.
I had my Garmin Edge 800 GPS bike computer with me too (of course) so I was able to upload and post a link to the map for this trail also. One note on the trail map that I posted is that I accidentally pressed the wrong button on the northern end of the trail (I meant to hit the lap button but hit the start/stop button) and, after I discovered my mistake (just south of Singing Hills Forest Preserve), and turned it back on it added a straight line to the top of the map after I posted it online (sorry about that).
If you are interested in riding this trail and would like to see the map and some photos of the trail to see what it is like, I have posted my report, map and photos of the trail here at the Millennium Trail Photos and Ride Report.