About Bicycles Online > Bicycle Touring and Trails > Evanston Lakefront Bike Paths

The Evanston Lakefront Trail and Bikeways

The Evanston Lakefront Trail Bikeways include a little over 5 miles of bike paths and bike routes (bike lanes and some sidewalks along Sheridan Road) that run along the Lake Michigan lakefront through Evanston and Northwestern University and into Chicago. 

I originally found this bike path on my Northeast Illinois Bike Map and it said that it was 8 miles and I thought that it was a "Bike Path" the entire way. The map does refer to this as "bikeways" so that explains the bike lane on Sheridan Road, the sidewalks and university roads that you need to take in order to ride the entire route (from Wilmette to Chicago).

I actually started and ended my ride in Wilmette which is just past the northern border of Evanston and turned around (on the south end) at Rogers Avenue Beach in Chicago.

One really nice thing about this bike route is that you can connect to the Green Bay Bike Trail at the northern end and if you ride a few miles further south of Rogers Ave Beach you can connect to the Chicago Lakefront Bike Path.

These connections actually give you the option to ride your bike from the South Shore Cultural Center in Chicago all the way to Wisconsin riding right next to Lake Michigan much of the way and not far from it on the rest of the ride (if you are really that ambitious)!

I think that the nicest part of the Evanston Lakefront Bikeways is the actual bike path that starts on the lakefront at Northwestern University and ends at Lee Street. Most of the path in this area is paved although this section is only about 2 miles.

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My Ride on the Evanston Lakefront Bike Paths

I rode the Evanston Lakefront Bike Paths with my camera and Gamin Edge 800 GPS bike computer in June, 2012 in order to post the photos, map and ride data for this bike path.

I parked in Wilmette close to Central Road (about 7 blocks west of Sheridan Road) then rode to Gillson Park then south to the Evanston Lakefront Bikeways.

Once I started my ride on this route, I made my way to and through Northwestern University, the Evanston Beaches and along Sheridan Road (or Lake Shore Drive) to Rogers Avenue Beach in the far north end of Chicago.

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Here's a map of the Evanston Lakefront Bike Paths with a link to the GarminConnect site so you can review the route, map, connecting trails and surrounding area.

I wasn't sure where the official bike path started and ended so I reset the trip meter on my GPS bike computer a few times. The first map shows from Lee Street to Gillson Park (and to the beach) and the second map shows from Northwestern University all the way to Rogers Avenue Beach.

If you take the one of the map links to the Garmin site, you can zoom-in, zoom-out, move around or switch to the satellite view as you wish.

The Evanston Lakefront Bike Paths Map

© Copyright Garmin and Microsoft.
(click on map to see full map/ride details)

The Evanston Lakefront Bike Paths Map

© Copyright Garmin and Microsoft.
(click on map to see full map/ride details)

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Here's the photo tour of the Evanston Lakefront Bike Paths from the Wilmette, Illinois, through Northwestern University, Evanston and to Rogers Ave Beach in Chicago from June, 2012.

Evanston Lakefront Paths Photos 1 - Wilmette to Northwestern Univ.
Evanston Lakefront Paths Photos 2 - Northwestern to Evanston Beach
Evanston Lakefront Paths Photos 3 - Evanston to Rogers Ave Beach
Evanston Lakefront Paths Photos 4 - Bahai temple and Gillson Beach

Enjoy your ride...