Madison County Transit (MCT) Trails

Even though I have lived only a short car ride away from the Madison County Transit (MCT) Trail System for years, this August was my first time ever riding the trails. And I'm pretty mad at myself I waited so long!

This trail system is gigantic - at least to me! Over 20 years ago, Madison County, IL started acquiring rail rights-of-way, which they have now transformed into around 130 miles of trails, a lot of them paved! There are a total of nine different trails, yet many of them intersect and create a number of loops of varying lengths. MCT Trails highlights 7 of the loops on their website and printed maps.

Speaking of maps, MCT will mail you a paper map if you request one online. I ordered mine a few days before my ride and it came in time for me to bring along. I think the design is super clever - the covers are glossy, which keeps moisture out when packed into a bag, and the heft of the covers also makes folding and unfolding super easy. I'm a nerd for maps!

So cute folded up!

Ta-da!

So on a recent Sunday I picked up a friend, loaded up our bikes, and crossed the Mississippi to explore the MCT trails. I wanted "easy" off the interstate parking, so I decided to park at the new trailhead in O'Fallon IL, at the southern terminus of the Goshen Trail. This section between O'Fallon and Troy was just completed late last year. When we arrived, most of the parking spaces were filled and the trail was buzzing with activity. "If you build it, they will come" always seems to be true when it comes to bike trails!

The new path was great and was a lot more wooded than I expected, but there were still plenty of cornfields.

Northbound on the new section of the Goshen Trail

We took the Goshen Trail until we got near Edwardsville, then we turned on the Nickel Plate Trail a bit, and then took a few streets to get to the downtown area for brunch.
We parked at Sacred Grounds Cafe, a cute vegetarian spot with local art for sale. I got an iced coffee and veggie sandwich. It was really delicious and very affordable- all their sandwiches and paninis are $5!

Love second breakfast on a bike ride!

Downtown Edwardsville also features the Wildey Theatre. Originally an opera house and meeting space for the Independent Order of Oddfellows, it is now restored and hosts concerts and movies.

Across from the theatre, the street connects to the Watershed Trail. This short trail parallels the Watershed Nature Center - which has its own trail system that takes you closer to the water. This would be a great spot for a picnic!

At the next trail junction, we connected to the Nature Trail and headed towards Granite City and Horseshoe Lake.


My favorite view along the Nature Trail

At the lake, there is a short spur trail into the park that connects to a park road. The speed limit is only 10 mph, so super bike friendly. The views were amazing and we could even see the Arch!

The Arch!!!

After a bit by the water, we returned to the trail and lingered on a bridge over a small inlet that flows into the larger lake. The inlet was home to a bunch of birds and turtles! A few of the turtles were perched on logs, but many were just swimming freely in the water.

From the lake, we connected to the Schoolhouse Trail, which was the final section of our loop. This trail featured more open views and a few crossings of busy roads - but most of the crosswalks were well designed for the trail traffic.

At the junction of the Schoolhouse Trail and the Goshen Trail, we headed south on Goshen toward the car. Back at the parking lot, my Strava app read only 49.7 miles. Naturally we turned around to do a short out and back to get to 50!

The MCT trail system is a fantastic destination. What I like the most is the ability to make loops using the trails. A lot of area trail rides are out-and-back, unless you want to create a loop using roads. I’m not the biggest fan of driving to trails near me to ride my bike, but this system offers enough variety and distance to make it worth the drive.

My only complaint is lack of signage at the trail intersections. Each intersection features a printed map and trail names are painted on the trail itself for navigation - but the lettering is small and faded. Simple signs with arrows indicating where the trail leads to would make on-the-bike navigation much more accessible for new visitors.