About Bicycles > FREE Bike Trail Maps Resource
Sorry, I have not maintained this page for a while but I am leaving it on the site because some of this information is still legit. Like getting maps at state and county websites, etc. I just removed the links that did' t work though.
One thing that I did want to mention is that these days I believe that Google Maps Bike Routes is probably the best resource for bike maps now and is what I use.
I recently discovered that Google changed the access to the BIke Maps option (by August 2021). Currently you get to this via the Layers option when you have a map displayed in Google (this is where you select satellite or map view),
So to find a Bike Trail on Google Maps, do a regular search for a location on a map (not the bike trail) like a city or something. Then Select Maps at the top of the page (under the Google search bar) to view a map of that area. Then Select Layers > More > Biking. The bike trails are the lines in GREEN.. Zoom way in to see the trail names.
This page is dedicated to FREE bike trail maps and information. If you have visited other pages on this site you will know that I live in Illinois and have quite a bit of Illinois and Wisconsin bike trail information. Although most of the links here are for Illinois and Wisconsin bike trails, I believe that you will find that the free bike trail map information included here will be relevant to your location as well.
Most free bike maps are available through various government (state, county and municipal) web sites. Many of these websites offer free bike trail maps in PDF or other printable or downloadable formats. Often, there will be an option to request hardcopy versions of the bike maps to be mailed to your street address.
PDF Bike Map Viewing and Printing Hints:
The PDF bike maps are great FREE bike trail maps. They are just not as nice, in some situations, as having the hardcopy. You will need to choose the section of the map that you want, then set the PDF view to 100% (or more, to read in some cases)). Once you have selected and resized the section that you need, choose "current view" in the print menu and print that section.
Interactive Maps Online
When I originally put together this Free Bike Trail Maps Resource page the interactive maps available online (from Google, Bing, Garmin, etc.) were either not available or were not nearly as advanced as they are now.
The mapping resources available online today are a great way to find and explore new (and old) bike trails and routes. My preference at this time is Google Maps. All you need to do within Google is select the Maps link at the top of the page (or use the link that I've included above) and search for a town or more specific location where you want to ride (and find a bike trail) then Zoom In until the bike trails become visable.
Google already has quite a few bike trails mapped and in some cases you can search for a bike trail in Google Maps and they will show you the trail already mapped out.
The Illinois Department of Transportation (idot) site has the best FREE Illinois Bike Maps that I have found to date! Unfortunately, as of Fall of 2008 I have discovered that the option to order free hardcopy bike maps has been disabled (temporarily, I hope). I think my favorite map, for our area, is the "Illinois Official Bicycle Map Chicago/Northeastern Illinois ".
At one time the option to request the free hardcopy Illinois bike maps was disabled, but I see that there is an option to request maps again (9/18/2020).
See: Illinois DOT Maps page here. (removed)
The Lake County Forest Preserve web site has great online maps in the bicycling area (choose Publications > Trail Maps).
The Cook County Preserve web site has great online maps in the bicycling area (choose Recreation > Bicycling).
The Kane County DOT web site has an option to request free hardcopy bike maps or you can select Kane County PDF Bike Maps here.
The City of Chicago DOT (link removed) web site has an option to request free hardcopy Chicago bike maps in addition to an online Chicago bike map (link removed) option.
Dupage County used to offer free hardcopy and PDF bike trail maps but have changed their site quite a bit an now only offer a lame interactive map.
* In some cases I do not include the direct links to the bicycling pages or map pages because these sites have a tendency to change periodically which breaks the links and just causes frustration. If you go to the main site though it is usually not too difficult to find the maps with the hints that I've given above.
Some of the best free maps that I have found for Illinois are by county. Unfortunately, county lines are not always at convenient starting and stopping ride locations so you may need to go to multiple county web sites to get a series of connecting trail maps.
I have found that, even with the full printed maps, I would usually scan the section that I needed for the trail or trails that I would be riding, print them and bring the printouts on my ride. I really prefer to have an 8x10 paper map of the exact area that I needed for each ride rather than pull out and unfold a large map every time I need to reference where I was.
The Wisconsin DOT web site has free online (only) bike trail maps of all Wisconsin counties.
Other Free Bike Map Options:
Free bike maps are sometimes available at municipal buildings or if you are traveling on the interstate, you may be able to pickup some free bike trail maps at the welcome centers for some states.
If you are looking for photos of the trails, come back to this site Bike Trails page). I believe that we have one of the more extensive and better collections of bike trail photos for the bike trails in northeastern Illinois and quite a few Wisconsin trails too!
That's all I have right now, but I'll be adding more as I discover them. If you have more free bike map resources please let me know... (Rob at rob@about-bicycles.com)
If you are aware of the fact that the state, county and municipal web sites usually have the best free bike trail maps, it can really help you to filter your online searches to the truly free maps.
There are quite a few fantastic internet resources for FREE bikes maps, but they can be hard to find with a typical Google or Yahoo search since all of the bike sites that are SELLING bike trail maps try hard to get to the top of the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages) for phrases like "FREE Bike Trail Maps", "Free Bicycle Trail maps", etc. So, I decided to start a page dedicated to truly free bike trail maps and information.
Although this bike site does have some commercial pages and resources (primarily helpful links to sites that actually sell quality bike accessories) I am reserving this page to free, non commercial resources.
Additional Illinois Bike Map Resources:
I have found this page to be a great resource for Illinois Bike Maps: http://www.bikelib.org/maps-and-rides/maps/ (link removed)