Bicycle Route Notes
Racine/Kenosha Counties
Racine/Kenosha Counties East of I-94
For routes west of I-94, click here.
I. North-south routes
A. Bike path route
1. From Milwaukee County: WI 32 not great, but hear it may be rebuilt. Oak Leaf connection under construction.
2. Racine County Bike Path from 7 Mile Rd to Racine (compacted limestone)
3. Through Racine: the Root River Pathway offers a winding but scenic route through Racine using both streets and new bike trails. The pathway itself follows the Root River to the lake front (see next section), but a cutoff leads directly to the start of the Racine-Kenosha trail. As of this writing the section through Colonial park has not been paved and is rough gravel. It can be cut off using Jefferson.
4. Racine-Kenosha Bike Path runs to the outskirts of Kenosha.
5. Through Kenosha
a. Bike street route. Includes some bike paths and two parks. Slow because of cross traffic.
b. Direct streets routes. None are particularly attractive. Suggest 30th because it leads directly to path on south. 22nd also an option.
c. Pike Trail along lake (see below)
6. Kenosha county trail (compacted limestone) to Robert McClory Trail in Illinois, which runs to Chicago’s north shore suburbs
B. Lake shore route (note that I have not found any of Sheridan Ave. attractive for bikes)
1. Seven Mile Rd. To Racine. Roads through attractive rural and suburban country. Passes Wind Point lighthouse and Wingspread conference center by Frank Lloyd Wright. Plans are to extend Lake Michigan Pathway north from Racine.
2. Through Racine. Lake Shore Pathway follows lake shore and then back streets to connect with Racine-Kenosha Trail.
3. Racine to Kenosha. Either follow trail or roads. Take Birch Rd and then a new bike path to Carthage College at the lake shore.
4. Kenosha. The Pike Trail starts at Carthage College and runs south to downtown. It then follows a series of streets along the lake shore before moving inland to 7th. Seventh is also a more direct route through downtown Kenosha, with some fine old houses.
5. South of Kenosha. Lakeshore Drive runs to 116th St. Normally a bicyclist would turn west on 116th and pick up either the bike trail or roads to Illinois. However, First Ct. goes south past the Chiwaukee Prairie before ending at the state line. A short (about 200 yds) dirt path leads to a marina with connections to bike trails in Illinois Beach State Park (sadly neglected) and Zion. Local riders seem to use this connection quite a bit–but it appears to cross private property, so its status is unclear.
C. Inland route east of I-94 between Milwaukee county and Illinois. Between Milwaukee county and Franksville, Nicholson Rd and county H are alternative routes. From Franksville to Sturtevant, the route follows county H. From Sturtevant it follows 90th St and then county EA in Kenosha county. At 38th Street, it switches to county H which it follows to the state line. The countryside varies between rural, suburban, and some industrial parks. Probably more useful as connector and loops than an attraction in itself.
II. East-west routes (listed from south to north). At some point most of these routes are forced to follow busy highways, but those chosen have reasonably good shoulders.
A. State line route. Southwest from Kenosha on ML and then dip into Illinois. A connection to the start of the Des Plaines River Trail.
B. Prairie Springs Park. West on 85th, south on Cooper, and west on 93rd St and 95th St through park (lake is looped by bicycle trail). Then go west on the shoulder of Lakeview Parkway (heavy traffic but wide shoulder) past the intersection with I-94. Old Green Bay Rd serves to connect this route with the previous one. (A potential east-west route is Bain Station Rd but it dead ends at the very busy Green Bay Rd.
C. Wilmot Rd. Take 60th St west from Kenosha. Particularly west of Green Bay Rd, it has moderately heavy traffic and poor shoulders. Take a series of subdivision streets to 104th St and follow that to county C (Wilmot Rd) with moderate traffic but good 3 foot shoulders.
D. County N. From Kenosha, take 46th St to 55th Ave. Then follow 38th St (County S) west (traffic but good 3 foot shoulders). Continue on County N, which has much lower traffic.
E. Kenosha County A. This route starts at the intersection of 16th St and the Kenosha county bike trail. It passes by UW Parkside and through Petrifying Springs park (very scenic).
F. Braun Rd. The Racine county bike route alternates between Braun and KR. Braun has less traffic but a somewhat poorer pavement. Taylor seems to be the best connector between Racine and Braun Rd–somewhat busy but with room for bicyclists and relatively low speeds.
G. 16th Street. Starts on 14th and runs past Johnson Wax (famous Frank Lloyd Wright buildings), switches to 16th to its end, then follows frontage road for Highway 20 and a short stretch of 20 (high traffic, wide shoulders), to winding Sorenson Rd. Short stretch on I94 frontage road. (Except for the din of constant traffic both the east and west frontage roads are bicycle-friendly from Milwaukee county line to state line. I saw one large group making use of the frontage road.)
H. Spring Street to Old Spring. Passes new Pike River Pathway which seemed very popular with local bicyclists. (West of Cty H quality of shoulders on Spring St deteriorates.)
I. Northwestern Avenue. Fairly heavy traffic but good pavement and shoulders. Connects to Kraut with much lower traffic.
J. Seven Mile Road. Generally low traffic through rolling farming country. Part of Racine County bike route and the Racine branch of the former Wisconsin Bikeway.
III. Commuter routes in Racine and Kenosha. A number of possible routes are shown, but neither city is particularly bicycle commuter friendly. I found no marked bike lanes. The Racine Trails are much more oriented to recreational bicyclists than commuters, wandering about. Both cities restrict parking on most through streets either entirely or during rush hours, making them less commuter-friendly.
A. Racine. The map shows a number of possible routes for commuters. Roads with heavy traffic shown are the more bicycle-friendly of the group. The relatively few bridges across the Root River tend to force bicyclists to use sections of busy streets. The county bike trail that goes to the west from the south side of Racine may be a viable route for those working or shopping at the Regency Mall, but none of the roads at its current terminus are bicycle-friendly, especially the portion of highway 11 running through Sturtevant. Apparently there is a grant to extend this route west past Sturtevant, but there is no evidence on the ground.
B. Kenosha is laid out on a grid, which in theory should be good for bicyclists. However, a relatively few streets are through and these tend to be quite busy. Most back routes are blocked by (largely defunct) industrial sites. I have tried to mark the most bicycle-friendly streets, but some commuters will probably choose others, since the differences are not great. On the west side, Pershing and Cooper are quite nice for riding.
Racine/Kenosha Counties West of I-94
West of Interstate 94, Racine and Kenosha counties are largely rural with some patches of sprawl, particularly around Bristol. The terrain varies from largely flat farmland in the east to more rolling terrain around Burlington. In the western portion of Racine county, a number of roads have been designated as “Rustic Roads,” which make for attractive bike riding. There are also several lakes, concentrated near the Illinois border and north of Burlington. (In picking routes, I am a sucker for Rustic Roads and for roads along lake shores.)
I. East-west routes
A. State line route. This is a continuation of the route described in the earlier section and moves back and forth between Illinois and Wisconsin, mostly on back roads. The early part of the route passes through horse country. After passing through Antioch, IL (the end of a Metra line to Chicago–but no service on weekends), it turns north at the Fox River and Gander Mtn. to join the Wisconsin Bikeway at Wilmot. (Apparently Wilmot Mountain–a ski area–allowed mountain biking during past summers, but its current web site makes no mention of this.)
B. South Kenosha county route. This route takes back roads from Pleasant Prairie to Trevor where it joins the Wisconsin Bikeway.
C. Wisconsin Bikeway (so-called, because it mostly follows the route of the former Wisconsin Bikeway). This route follows county C from I-94 to near Twin Lakes, passing through Trevor (historic one-room school house) and Wilmot (quaint cafe). It then passes through the community of Twin Lakes before heading southwest towards Genoa City. At Twin Lakes, it is also possible to precede north west towards Lake Geneva. The portion of the route east of Trevor is smooth with three-foot shoulders and moderate and fast traffic. Some bicyclists, therefore, may prefer one of the lower-traffic routes listed above although they are less direct. Past Trevor, traffic lessons and the route passes through several attractive small towns.
D. Silver Lake route. This route branches north from the Wisconsin Bikeway at Liberty Corners, passing by Camp Lake and Silver Lake. It then passes Powers Lake to enter Walworth county and Lake Geneva.
E. Mid Kenosha County. As with the Karcher Rd route (below), this route starts with County N (38th) St. (Initially it followed county K (60th St) to the Fox River. Mid-week, there was little traffic, especially because K does not intersect with the interstate or pass through any towns; however, a recent Saturday bike ride found quite heavy traffic east of Paddock Lake, including a surprising number of motorcycles, with no shoulders on most of this stretch.) At highway 45 (shoulders, moderate traffic), go south to NN (45th St). Follow NN until it merges into county K. K ends at the Fox River and the bicyclist can go along the Fox River route (see next section) either north or south to pick up one of the other routes.
(Although not shown on the map, it is possible for the bicyclist to continue in the same direction by using the shoulders on highway 50. Highway 50 between Kenosha and Lake Geneva is a divided route with heavy traffic (for example Google recommends it as the route from Chicago to Lake Geneva). However, it has 8-foot shoulders. The route would then use the shoulder for about a mile, before following the parallel Geneva St. to Slades Corners. The shoulder would then be used for another mile before dropping to the south in Walworth county.)
F. Karcher Rd. A low traffic route that had several groups of cyclists when I visited it. This route starts with County N (described above). It jogs north one-half mile on US 45 (moderate traffic in this section) and then continues on Karcher to its end, just before the Walworth county line. Offers access to the Bong Recreation area and Burlington. To continue into Walworth County, either go north on Fish Hatchery Rd. to South Lake Shore Dr or, at the end of Karcher, go north on Fishman. Both routes connect to County P (McHenry Rd). Go south on P (traffic, use shoulder) to Warren Rd.
G. North Kenosha county route. Continues on county A until it swings south to end at route 142. 142 has been reconstructed during the summer of 2005 and has decent shoulders and moderate traffic. Follow 142 through the Bong Recreation Area (mountain bike trails), before turning north on 288th Ave. (a Rustic Road) and follow Mt. Tom Rd. until it rejoins 142 shortly before Burlington. At Bushnell Park, the route picks up a bicycle trail that crosses the Fox River into Burlington.
H. Racine County Bike Route, south branch. This follows the official Racine county route to Burlington, except that it crosses I-94 on Braun Rd. rather than KR (lower traffic since there is no exit).
I. Mid-Racine county route. This route goes to Waterford and Rochester and then continues west into Walworth County.
J. Northern Racine county route. Follows 7 Mile Rd. to Wind Lake. Then follows various roads past Lake Tichigan west to county L and into Walworth County.
II. North-South routes
A. West of interstate route. Follows various back roads between Illinois and Milwaukee county. Despite its proximity to I-94, this route goes mostly through farming country and has little traffic.
B. Mid-county north-south. Runs north from north of Paddock Lake. One branch goes to Wind Lake, the other to the south west corner of Milwaukee County.
C. Silver Lake Route. Runs from the Illinois border north to Rochester. Then follows Marsh Rd into Waukesha county and, eventually, Waukesha.
D. Fox River route. Runs from Illinois south of Wilmot to Burlington following the Fox River. Portion before Burlington is a rustic road.
E. Western county route. Runs from Illinois through Twin Lakes to Burlington.
F. Seven Waters Trail. A rail-trail roughly parallel to highway 36 from Burlington to the Waukesha County line. Most surface is crushed limestone but new section through Rochester and Waterford is paved. Also connects to bike trails in Burlington. The trail ends abruptly at the county line so that the bicyclist must either use the shoulder of highway 36 (wide but heavy traffic) or follow Loomis Rd. northeast from Wind Lake.
G. Roads north of Burlington. There are a number of quite scenic roads in the Burlington area, several of which are designated as Rustic Roads. These roads can be used to go from Burlington to Rochester. From Rochester, one route leads northeast through Waterford to Wind Lake and towards Milwaukee; another goes straight north towards Waukesha. From Burlington, routes lead northwest through Walworth county towards Mukwanago. They can be combined with the Burlington-Norway Trail for scenic loop trips.
III. Burlington Bike Trails. Burlington has recently constructed several paved bike trails. One runs from the end of the Burlington-Norway Trails along the west bank of the Fox River before crossing the river and ending at Bushnell Park. Another runs next to highway 11 towards Browns Lake. Two sections of trail allow the bicyclist to go from highway 11 to Bushnell Park.
