Biking Illinois: Madison County Transit Trails

Missouri was recently named the best trails state by American Trails. I think this is a very well deserved honor for Missouri to earn. You may have noticed just how much I love Missouri and am a big fan of the state park system here. I have been to many places in the country, and time and time again it seems that other states just cannot compare when it comes to their state parks. 

This being said I must admit something to you all. I am in love with Illinois bike trails.

Yes, I said it. 

I have been cheating on Missouri with bike trails across the river. My sister and her husband live in Edwardsville and they are super close to a trailhead for the Watershed Trail, just a small part of the Madison County Transit Trails (MCT). The great thing about these trails is that you can do however big or small of a loop as you want. It is this interconnected web of trails that spans about 100 miles according to their website. That is a lot of trail that is connected.

I know, I know. I live right by the Katy Trail and that has 225+ miles of bike trails. 

But this. This is paved, which I love. Missouri has great trails and pathways, obviously. We would not have been named the best if we didn't. And the St. Louis area is working hard on making the trails around here even better. But that is all a big work in progress right now. Within a few years even more trails will be built connected current trails and adding to the web of them in our area.

Turns out I am really bad at taking pictures while biking. This took about  5 attempts. Half of those were blurry pictures of the trail on accident. That is my sister pulling the trailer. 

But until then, I am glad I have the MCT. The longest stretch my sister and I have done so far has been 20 miles. We could have done more that day, but it was PX's first time in his brand new bike trailer and he was not amused. As in cried and screamed for about 15 miles of the ride. The only time he was happy was when he was asleep in the trailer or playing at the playground we stopped at.

That is another thing. The Edwardsville/Glen Carbon/surrounding areas have awesome parks. 

Anyway, I have done 3 different bike rides on these trails now and each time it was something a bit different. I think that is one thing I really like about the area besides it being paved is that with so many connecting trails you get to mix it up. You don't have to do the same thing each time. First ride was 11 miles, second one was the 20 mile one and this past Friday morning we did about 7 miles. It was a colder morning and my asthma was acting up, so I had to end that one sooner. 

Our bikes at the playground for break time

My sister and I want to bike to Augusta on the Katy Trail, which is about 30 miles each way. We figure if we can do 50-60 miles on the paved trails we can do 30 miles on the Katy. It really is shocking how much harder the Katy is to other trails if you are not used to it. Granted it seems like every time I choose to go on the Katy is just days after huge rain storms. I am sure when it is perfectly dry it is not all the difficult. 

So until we are ready for our trip to Augusta we are going to keep training on the MCT. Most of the trails we have been on are wooded and beautiful. There are parts that go through flat field areas. I am very much looking forward to exploring even more of these trails and Illinois in general.

Don't worry, Missouri. You are still my main love.