About Bicycles Online > Bicycle Touring and Trails > Millennium Trail

The Millennium Trail
Scenic, Hilly Trail in Lake County, Illinois

The Millennium Trail (approx 12 miles) is a Scenic and Hilly, mostly crushed stone trail that currently runs from Mundelein, Il (southeast section) through Singing Hills Forest Preserve and parts of Volo, Illinois to the southern border of Marl Flat Forest Preserve (the northeast end of the trail).

There is quite a variety of scenery along this trail with access to many connecting trails. The southeastern part of the trail (in the Lakewood Forest Preserve) winds through a heavily wooded and very hilly area passing by a number of lakes and wetlands.

As you go further north and west on the Millennium Trail it opens up to more of a hilly prairie scene although you still pass through patches of woods, lakes and wetlands until it ends just south of Marl Flat forest preserve near Volo, Il.

This trail is almost all crushed stone, loose in places, and very hilly which can be a little tricky (especially with a road bike, which is how I rode this trail).

Although the Millennium Trail is paved as you go north from the Singing Hills Forest Preserve the majority of the trail is crushed stone. This trail is better suited for a mountain bike and /or a very casual pace in most places. I get nervous speeding down steep hills with a loose surface.

Although the trail surface can be a little slippery, this a very scenic trail with quite a bit of variety. Both times that I rode this trail there were some people on the trail but not a lot. If you like a quite and scenic trail that is away from the crowds then the Millennium Trail is a good choice.

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My Ride on the Millennium Trail

I rode the Millennium Trail with my camera and Gamin Edge 800 GPS bike computer on twice in June, 2012 in order to post the photos, map and ride data for this bike path (I had a camera problem on my first ride).

I parked in Lakewood Forest Preserve Parking, just off of Fairfield Road, and took the trail a little over 2 miles to the end of the main trail just west of Mundelein then turned around and rode the entire trail west and north to the end near Volo.

The trail actually continues east along Hawley Street (Route 176) into Mundelein but that part was just straight and right along the road so I originally skipped that section.

I did ride the eastern part of the trail on another ride as I was attempting to connect to the North Shore Bike Path from this trail. See the Millennium Trail to North Shore Bike Path for info and photos on that ride and the connection between the 2 trails.

 

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Here's a map of the Millennium Trail with a link to the GarminConnect site so you can review the route, map, connecting trails and surrounding area.

Note: I accidentally turned my GPS trip meter off (instead of hitting the Lap Reset) at the northern end of the trail. I turned it back on when I caught my mistake just south of Singing Hills FP. When I uploaded the map there is a straight line from the northern end of the trail to where I corrected my mistake ~ I did not ride a straight line cross country! :-) Sorry for the mistake on that but I still used the Garmin map data here since it is so helpful.

The Millennium Trail Map

© Copyright Garmin and Microsoft.
(click on map to see full map/ride details)

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Here's the photo tour of the Millennium trail from the Lakewood Forest Preserve parking area east to the start of the main trail near Mundelein then back west and north to the northern end of the trail near Volo, from June, 2012.

Millennium Trail Photos 1 ~ Mundelein and Lakewood FP
Millennium Trail Photos 2 ~ Lakewood FP Davis Lake
Millennium Trail Photos 3 ~ Fairfield Road to Sutton Road
Millennium Trail Photos 4 ~ Sutton Road to Singing Hills
Millennium Trail Photos 5 ~ Singing Hills to Volo

Here are the Millennium Trail Fall Photos that I took in the Lakewood Forest Preserve part of the trail east of the Fairfield Road parking. These photos are from 10/16/12.

Millennium Trail Fall Photos 6 ~ Lakewood Forest Preserve
Millennium Trail Fall Photos 7 ~ One Mile Loop, Plus

Enjoy your ride...