Originally Posted by
robow
The Bike 4 trails is actually composed of 4 trails that connect and will give you 100 miles of continuous trails, and that is without a couple other beautiful legs such as the Omaha county trail. Starting in Freeport, IL, you pick up the Jane Adams trail connecting to the Badger and then west on the Military Ridge trail, then north by county road to connect to the Bike 4. Really nice ride
http://www.bike4trails.com/Bike4trails.jpg
They finally finished the construction at the east end of Military Ridge, it now meets Badger State Trail, but it could easily be missed. If you are going north on the Badger State Trail, that eventually turns into the SW trail, or maybe it is called SW Commuter or something like that. But that goes over a bridge, the Military Ridge starts under that bridge and if you were not aware, you could miss it. There is so signage for those going over the bridge.
If you have a GPS, the coordinates 43.023842, -89.461092 will put you on the bridge, but if you are going north on the Badger State Trail, you should take the turnoff at 43.021371, -89.461414 to get under the bridge. (I got these GPS readings off of Google Maps.)
That bridge location is the meeting place for the Badger State Trail, Cannonball Trail, Capital City Trail, SW Commuter Trail, and Military Ridge. But if you are on the bridge, no signage.
Their budget got slashed again last summer. Next year the annual trail pass is $25. (There are rumors that the state park system will start selling naming rights to parks and trials.) So far the maintenance on the trail has not collapsed, but it probably will pretty soon.
I ride over that bridge a couple times a week for my exercise route, so I am somewhat familiar with the area. I will be putting on the studded tires in a few weeks, this has been a very late start to winter, have not put the studs on yet.
You might want to request a map.
https://www.cityofmadison.com/bikeMa...anTrip/map.cfm