We’re fortunate that our counties and many towns post online maps of their bike routes and trails. DuPage County goes a step further by suggesting whole rides on a separate web page.
Most of the suggestions, outlined on downloadable PDF maps, make use of the county’s extensive and fantastic trail system and forest preserves, though one is entirely a ride around one town. Many of the suggestions also make use of the Metra system, with a one-way route to ride in full for the experience if you so choose, then access to a Metra stop where you can hop a train with your bike to get back where you started. Or maybe you’d take the Metra first. I’ve heard of riders, including Chicagoans, taking the Metra like this to access faraway trails or routes.
The county provides longer summaries of its suggestions, but here’s my quick summary. I’ve not ridden these routes per se, but I’ve ridden most of the paths or stretches making up these suggestions. These are for casual bicyclists or serious cyclists; you can ride these in whole or in part.
Bartlett 25-mile Loop (mostly gravel): Starts at the Bartlett Metra station and takes the northern end of the West Branch DuPage River Trail south to Carol Stream, then makes a mini-triangle with both the Great Western Trail and Illinois Prairie Path. It proceeds on the Elgin branch of the prairie path to Stearns Road and Pate Phillips State Park. It follows the off-road path along Stearns east back to Bartlett. PDF
IPP East-West ride, 23 miles one way (all gravel): This is what they say it is — just a one-way shot all along the Illinois Prairie Path, “the proud grandfather of rail-to-trails.” The ride runs between the eastern trail head at the Blue Line in Forest Park to the West Chicago Metra station on the Illinois Prairie Path Geneva Spur. So you can ride one way and take the train back, or do half of it up and back, or of course do the whole thing up and back if you want 46 miles. PDF
Central DuPage County Rail-Trail Loop, about 24 miles (all gravel): Here’s another route that makes use of the proximity between the Great Western Trail and Illinois Prairie Path. It makes a long triangle with Villa Park on the east, Wheaton in the center and West Chicago on the west. The county notes that you can stop in a lot of suburban downtowns. PDF
Lombard Loop, 10 miles (paved): Take a ride around this town and, the county says, all its history. The route avoids the busiest roads so that you’d ride through the neighborhoods. PDF
Northwest DuPage County Rail-Trail Loop, about 30 miles (about half paved, half gravel): This is a triangle composed of the Elgin branch of the Illinois Prairie Path, the Geneva Spur of the same path, and the Fox River Trail. So you’d also get into Kane County on this ride. PDF
Southwest DuPage County Rail-Trail Loop, about 30 miles (about two-thirds gravel): This makes use of the Illinois Prairie Path Geneva Spur on the north, briefly the path’s Elgin branch, the path’s Aurora branch, the path’s Batavia Spur (mislabeled on the map at the southwest), and the Fox River Trail. PDF
Villa Park-Naperville Ride, about 17 miles one way (gravel and paved): Here’s a neat ride using the Illinois Prairie Path’s main stem west to the Aurora branch, then onto Naperville streets, next onto the south end of the West Branch DuPage River Trail right along the river, and ending in Naperville’s downtown. From either end you can grab the Metra train, or you could make a round-trip ride of 34 miles. PDF
Salt Creek Trail rides, various lengths and surfaces: The county presents the Salt Creek trail in two parts, with offshoots on the Prairie Path to reach suburban downtowns and Metra stations if you choose.
DuPage County North Loop, 37 miles (paved and gravel): This is like a suggested ride combo platter. It takes the Central DuPage loop above and adds, to the north, the West Branch DuPage River Trail through Carol Stream, the North Central DuPage Regional Trail that wends through forest preserves and spacious Bloomingdale neighborhoods, and the Salt Creek Trail to complete the north loop. PDF
DuPage County South Loop, about 45 miles (paved and gravel): Here’s a big ol’ loop around southern DuPage County. The Prairie Path main stem and Aurora branch are on the north, the West Branch DuPage River Trail is on the west, the Southern DuPage Regional Trail zigzags through preserves and neighborhoods on the south, and it’s roads on the east. PDF
Read the county’s web page for more on the sights within these rides. Meanwhile, if you’re looking for road riding of some distance, allow me to suggest my own loops of about 40 miles.
It took me years to figure out good loops from Schaumburg south into DuPage. I had wanted to create them when the wind blew from the south, so that I could start against the wind and then have a good push back home. But northern DuPage doesn’t have long trails or open roads that I can get to quickly like I can if I go north into, say, the Poplar Creek preserve and South Barrington. With experimentation and the help of club rides, I figured out my loop, with variations. They’re for serious cyclists, and I can trim or lengthen them as I wish. Here’s a common route:
The key idea is to get to President Street and keep going south. This one includes an offshoot to Lake Ellyn in Glen Ellyn before I head back through Wheaton, by Wheaton College, past the county government complex and through downtown Winfield. I ultimately get to Klein Road on the west side of the West Branch Forest Preserve, and that requires a dash on bigger Army Trail Road before turning left into Bartlett. Getting across Army Trail Road is usually the challenge moving north and south through DuPage. I also ride right on Stearns Road heading east; there are off-road path options, too.
The one below goes allllll the way down President Street, then weaves back through Lombard before resuming that Wheaton-Winfield-Bartlett route.
And here’s an option that doesn’t use a lot of President Street and instead uses the trail along the full length of Lies Road in Carol Stream before heading south and west toward Powis Road, which provides a pretty ride back north. This requires a longer ride east on Stearns, though I cut that some with offshoots through Bartlett neighborhoods.
Finally, for some good fun, here’s a guided tour of a northern DuPage County loop by YouTuber “Cynical Zombie,” who presents his friend Wally’s “Favorite DuPage Ride.”
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