Hiking and Biking at Busse Woods, Rolling Meadows

Why Busse Woods Park?
The paved biking path is hands down among the very best around Chicago – you will traverse through winding scenic trails, multiple bridges, large paddling lake with boat rentals (kayaks, canoe, fish boats), many fishing lakes, vast open grasslands and even an elk pasture land. No wonder it is highly rated and trafficked, all round the year, including the Fall season. Truly, FPDCC has done a tremendous job to keep this at the top of the mark.

Main fishing pool on the west side

How to Plan your visit?

• Apparently, main attractions are biking and hiking, and you have many access points for the same. I parked at Busse Woods West parking lot here and did the the most popular, 7-mile Red Trail. Thanks to the bridge over Higgins road, no need to worry about wading through mainstream traffic.

Fully paved biking path

Here’s the map to pick your trails. Red Trail is the most sought after one. The arrows represent where I parked and the easily-missed Elk Pasture.

• For boat center, set your GPS here.

The fully-equipped boat center (FPDCC)

• Run through this indispensable emergency checklist.

Tip: Please don’t forget bug sprays in summer.

Photologue

The Biking Path

The fall foliage glimmered under the soft daylight.

As taken on Oct 22, 2022

The trails are heavily trafficked and shared between hikers and bikers.

Along with dense wooded areas, you would also navigate through vast open spaces.

The Picnic Grove

The have plenty of picnic areas with grills and hot coal disposal containers.

Picnic Grove # 31

The fall foliage was close to the peak so had plenty of photo-ops.

The Elk Pasture

You get the rare opportunity to gaze elks around Chicago area.

A pair roaming around (FPDCC)

All in all, a must-visit forest preserve with a multitude of activities.

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