North Branch Trail Off-Road Edition
Fat bikes are fun, but not required to enjoy the unpaved portions of the North Branch Trail system.
Most of us on the NW Side of Chicago are familiar with the iconic North Branch Trail, which starts in the Mayfair neighborhood, and meanders through the forest preserves along the Chicago River all the way to Dundee road, where it meets the southern (and free to cyclists) entrance to the Chicago Botanic Gardens.
But it is a little known fact that the NBT has a more rugged counterpart: a bridle path that parallels part of its length, roughly between Golf Road and the Skokie Lagoons to accommodate the patrons of horse stables and riding facilities between Dempster and Golf. Bikes are allowed on equestrian paths, but cyclists must yield to horseback riders. Horseback riders are far fewer in number in these parts than cyclists, so —although you may encounter some— it’s just as likely that you’ll have the whole path to yourself.
The bridle path is an unpaved, hard-pack surface, and is suitable for most bikes, except the super-skinny-tire racing bikes. Anything else, including a hybrid, touring bike, MTB, kids bikes (and even a hybrid pulling a child trailer) is good to go. The only word of caution is that during a thaw or rainy season, the path gets very muddy, and some sections may be impassable.
The horse path itself is broad and fairly easy to follow, separated from the paved trail, and complete with its own dedicated overpasses, and an underpass below I-94. In a number of places it comes much closer to the riverbank than the paved path, and offers a different and more rugged experience of the forest preserve. It’s intersected by a number of narrow footpaths that offer additional exploration possibilities, however the legality of riding a bike on those paths in unknown.
But even without testing the limits of the law, there are plenty of places where you can get off the bike and take a break, or even a mini camping trip, as we did on a recent occasion, where we took advantage of a hideaway spot along the bridle path to test equipment for an upcoming bikepacking adventure.
Bring along a thermos of coffee, a hammock if you have one, and pack (or even cook) your lunch. It’s the closest you’ll come to a vacation on an ordinary weekend morning.
