My parents and I decided to bike the Green Circle Trail yesterday afternoon (June 25th). This was my first time biking it but luckily my parents have biked it before so they knew where they were going! We ended up doing the entire 27-mile loop and it was definitely a workout! I’m (surprisingly) not sore today but boy, oh boy, my legs were tired at the end of it! We started at the north part of the trail in Schmeeckle Reserve (University Trail). There’s a large parking area and an information center with restrooms. We got on the trail around 11:45 am.

On the trail, you’ll go over boardwalks, crushed granite, and paved roads. Parts of it follow both the Plover River and the Wisconsin River, providing some nice scenery. There are tons of benches at various points if you ever need a place to rest your legs. The majority of the Green Circle Trail is on the edge of town but there are quite a few parts where you get into the city and some neighborhoods. There are signs posted which help guide you in the right direction but if you’re not paying attention, they can be easily missed. In addition to the signs, there are also green circles with arrows painted on the city streets.

As far as trail conditions, there are a few sections with really loose gravel so make sure to keep an eye out for those! For the most part, the trail is flat, making it a pretty easy ride. However, there are a few sections with some hills which made my legs burn!

Overall, I enjoyed the Green Circle Trail! The only thing I didn’t love was how often we were on city streets. From start to finish, it took us about four hours to bike the entire thing. This was going at a leisurely pace with me stopping quite a few times to take pictures. Check out my photos of the trail below!

DETOUR: There is a section of the trail that is closed due to construction. North Point Dr. which is the section of the trail between the Sculpture Garden and Schmeeckle Reserve is inaccessible from June 7 – August 30, 2018. Here is a map from the Green Circle Facebook page showing the detour route.