Bicycle Trails
Wisconsin State Park System
Wisconsin's many miles of trails and varied terrain make it an ideal place for bicycling. Wisconsin consistently ranks as one of America's best places to bike.
Types of trails
There are more than one thousand miles of great off-road bicycling opportunities on public lands throughout Wisconsin. Below is a list of designated bicycle trails on Wisconsin DNR properties. There are three different kinds of experiences for bicyclists on Wisconsin's state trails:
- Bicycle touring trails - Easier trails such as paved or limestone-surfaced former railroad corridors. Generally appropriate for all ability levels and bikes with skinny tires.
- Off-road bicycle trails - Intermediate-level trails, often in the woods with a variety of surfacing, from native soil to wood chips. Appropriate for families with more adventurous riders and hybrid or mountain bikes.
- Constructed mountain bike trails - Specially constructed, challenging, narrow-width trails built to the trail standards of the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA).
Electric bikes
Electric bicycles are allowed on some of the straight (linear) bicycle touring trails, but must observe a 15-mile-per-hour speed limit. (Note that any electric bicycle capable of more than 30 miles per hour is, under state law, a motorcycle and not a bicycle, and may not be ridden on any state trails that do not specifically allow motorcycles). Electric bicycles are not allowed on any other bicycle trails other than those indicated in the table below. Electric bicycles used without the motor engaged are allowed on all bicycle trails.
Bicycle touring trails
The following list includes state trails and trails 2 or more miles long in state parks, forests and wildlife areas. Some additional parks and forests have shorter connecting trails and many have low-traffic roads, which also are good for bicycling. Most have limestone surfaces that pack down to make for good riding for skinny-tired as well as mountain bikes. Ride attentively—burrowing animals sometimes dig holes in the limestone. Click on the park, forest or trail name for more information.
A dollar sign ($) indicates that bikers age 16 and older must have a state trail pass.
| Park, Forest or Trail Name | Miles | Fee | Surface | Electric bicycles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 400 State Trail | 22 | $ | Limestone (7.5 miles have parallel horse trail) | Yes |
| Ahnapee State Trail | 48 | -- | Limestone | Yes |
| Badger State Trail | 40 | $ | Asphalt 6 miles, limestone 34 miles | Yes |
| Bearskin State Trail | 21.5 | $ | Granite | Yes |
| Capital City State Trail | 17 | $ | Asphalt | Yes |
| Chippewa River State Trail | 30 | $ | Asphalt 10 miles, seal coat 10 miles | Yes |
| Devil's River State Trail | 15 | -- | Limestone | Yes |
| Eisenbahn | 25 | -- | Limestone | Yes |
| Elroy-Sparta State Trail | 32 | $ | Limestone | Yes |
| Fox River State Trail | 25 | $ | Asphalt 5.4 miles, limestone 8.6 miles | Yes |
| Friendship State Trail | 4 | -- | Limestone | Yes |
| Gandy Dancer State Trail | 47 | $ | Limestone | Yes |
| Glacial Drumlin State Trail | 52 | $ | Asphalt 7.5 miles, limestone 41.5 miles | Yes |
| Great River State Trail | 24 | $ | Limestone | Yes |
| Great Sauk State Trail | 10.5 | $ | Asphalt | Yes |
| Green Circle State Trail | 29 | -- | Asphalt and granite | Yes |
| Hank Aaron State Trail | 12 | -- | Asphalt | Yes |
| Hillsboro State Trail | 4 | $ | Limestone | Yes |
| Kettle Moraine State Forest - Northern Unit Lake to Lake Bike Trail |
6.5 | -- | Limestone | No |
| La Crosse River State Trail | 22 | $ | Limestone | Yes |
| Mascoutin Valley State Trail | 21 | -- | Varies | Yes |
| Military Ridge State Trail | 40 | $ | Asphalt 3 miles, limestone 38 miles | Yes |
| Mound View State Trail | 7 | -- | Asphalt | Yes |
| Mountain-Bay State Trail | 83 | $ | Limestone | Yes |
| Newton-Blackmour State Trail | 22 | -- | Limestone | Yes |
| Oconto River State Trail | 8 | -- | Limestone | Yes |
| Old Abe State Trail | 20 | $ | Asphalt | Yes |
| Peninsula State Park Sunset Bike Trail |
9 | -- | Limestone | No |
| Point Beach State Forest Rawley Point Bike Trail |
5 | -- | Limestone | No |
| Red Cedar State Trail | 15 | $ | Limestone | Yes |
| Stower Seven Lakes State Trail | 14 | $ | Limestone | Yes |
| Sugar River State Trail | 24 | $ | Asphalt 1 mile, limestone 22.5 miles | Yes |
| Tomorrow River State Trail | 29 | $ | Limestone | Yes |
| White River State Trail | 16 | $ | Limestone | Yes |
| Wild Goose State Trail | 34 | -- | Limestone (4.1 miles have parallel horse trail) | Yes |
| Wiouwash State Trail | 35 | $ | Limestone | Yes |
| Wolf River State Trail | 14 | -- | Limestone | Yes |
Off-road bicycle trails
These trails are often in the woods with a variety of surfacing, from native soil to wood chips and are appropriate for families with more adventurous riders and hybrid or mountain bikes. These trails are typically unsurfaced trails in state parks, forests or recreation areas or are on former rail lines.
A dollar sign ($) indicates that bikers age 16 and older must have a state trail pass.
| Park, Forest or Trail | Miles of trail | Fee |
Electric bicycles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black River State Forest | 27 | $ | No |
| Brule River State Forest | 34 | -- | No |
| Buffalo River State Trail | 36 | $ | No |
| Copper Falls State Park | 7 | -- | No |
| Devil's Lake State Park | 4 | -- | No |
| Flambeau River State Forest | 15 | -- | No |
| Governor Dodge State Park | 8 | $ | No |
| Harrington Beach State Park | 1 | -- | No |
| High Cliff State Park | 10 | -- | No |
| Kettle Moraine State Forest - Lapham Peak | 5 | -- |
No |
| Kohler-Andrae State Park | 2.5 | -- | No |
| Lake Wissota State Park | 11 | -- | No |
| Mirror Lake State Park | 9 | -- | No |
| Newport State Park | 15 | -- | No |
| Nicolet State Trail | 28 | -- | No |
| Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest | 58 | $ | No |
| Pecatonica State Trail | 10 | -- | No |
| Peninsula State Park | 12 | $ | No |
| Point Beach State Forest | 4 | -- | No |
| Potawatomi State Park | 8 | -- | No |
| Richard Bong State Recreation Area | 12 | $ | No |
| Saunders State Trail | 8 | -- | No |
| Tuscobia State Trail | 65 | -- | No |
| Wild Rivers State Trail | 104 | -- | No |
| Wyalusing State Park | 5 | -- | No |
| Yellowstone Lake State Park | 3 | -- | Yes |
Constructed mountain bike trails
The Wisconsin State Park System has several miles of constructed mountain bike trails. Trails are mostly singletrack (where riders need to ride single-file), although some are wide enough to be considered double-track.
A dollar sign ($) indicates that bikers age 16 and older must have a state trail pass.
| Park, Forest or Trail | Miles of trail | Fee | Electric bicycles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Mound State Park | 15.5 | $ | Yes |
| Hartman Creek State Park | 13.5 | $ | No |
| Kettle Moraine State Forest - Northern Unit | 14.5 | $ | No |
| Kettle Moraine State Forest - Southern Unit | 54 | $ | No |
| Kinnickinnic State Park | 10.5 | -- | Yes |
| Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest | 2 (mixed with non-constructed bike trails) | $ | No |
| Willow River State Park | 20 | -- | Yes |
Local bike clubs throughout the state also construct and maintain mountain bike trails in cooperation with land managers. In northern Wisconsin, the Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association [exit DNR] has developed a system of trails in and around the Chequamegon National Forest.
Winter bicycling
Winter bicycling (including fat biking) is allowed on all Wisconsin DNR trails otherwise open to bicycling unless the trail is a groomed cross-country ski trail or if the local unit of government operating the trail has made a decision, reflected in the property's master plan, to not allow winter bicycling (list of county-operated state trails [PDF] - see the "Trail Operator" column). The locations we're currently aware of where this is the case are Marathon County on the Mountain-Bay State Trail and in Portage and Waupaca counties on the Tomorrow River State Trail. With other non-state bicycle trails, winter bicyclists should first check with the landowner or trail manager about access. For example, some snowmobile trails on county lands are not open to winter bicycling and most snowmobile trails on private land (the majority of Wisconsin snowmobile trails are located on private land) are not open to bicycling of any kind. Trespassing onto snowmobile trails on private lands can have negative consequences, such as closing down of legal trails for all trail users.