Bicycle ride on the paved bike trails of Madison County, Illinois Register

Date and Time:
Sun, May 31, 2026; 9:00 AM (Central)

Organized By: Eastern Missouri Group

Location: Glen Carbon Heritage Bike Trail Trailhead, 78 W Main St, Glen Carbon, IL 62034, USA

Map | Directions

Event Organizers:
Richard Armstrong
   rickarmstrongpi@gmail.com
   (314) 691-4613

Estimated length: 20-22 miles; 2 hours of cycling; Under 3 hours total

Meeting Place: Heritage Bike Trail Trailhead, Glen Carbon, Illinois.
Coordinates: 38.747024, -89.98695.

Carpooling: Contact the leader, Rick, if you wish to carpool. 

Directions:
From I-64/55 and the Poplar Street Bridge 

• Take I-64 East/I-55 North for 2 miles.
• As I-55 and I-64 split, keep left to stay on I-55 North. 
• In 6.5 miles, take the exit to I-255 North.
• After 6 miles on I-255, take Exit 30 onto I-270 East. 
• In 2 miles, take Exit 9 to 157 South. 
• In 1.2 miles, turn left (east) onto West Main Street.
• In 1 mile, the parking lot will be on your right [a bit past the Casey’s store on your left].

or From the I-270 bridge into Illinois: Drive east on I-270 for 12 miles. At Exit 9, turn right on 157 South for 1.2 miles. Turn left (east) on West Main Street. In 1 mile, the parking lot will be on your right [a bit past the Casey’s store on your left].

Near Edwardsville, Madison County was one of the first regions of Illinois to enthusiastically convert rails-to-trails.  They now provide over 100 miles of paved, multi-use bicycle trails with relatively few road crossings.  Motorized vehicles are not allowed on these trials. We will ride 20-22 miles stopping for about 15 minutes at SIUE Gardens. Much of our ride will be in the shade.

Difficulty: Moderate — The terrain is quite flat. We will maintain a pace of 10.5 -11.5 mph.

LIMIT: 10 participants.

• All participants must sign a Sierra Club waiver. Sign-up under Outings on the EMG website.  
• A one dollar per person Sierra Club donation is requested.   
• Guns are prohibited.

Equipment:

• Bring a road bike or similar which you can comfortably ride at a 10-12 mph pace for 2 hours.
• Class 1 ebikes are allowed. A Class 1 ebike requires pedal assist and cannot exceed 20 mph. If you are not certain about the Class of your ebike, check with a dealer or me.
• All participants must wear a properly fitted helmet.
• I will ride with a tube repair kit and an air pump but I cannot guarantee that I will be able to fix your bike.
• Bring a spare tube.
• Bring sunscreen.
• Carry 1-2 quarts of water. Water fountains and restrooms are RARE.

There is NO restroom at the trailhead but there is a Casey’s convenience store across the street. There may be one restroom along the route. After the hike, there is a Cold Stone Creamery four miles away!
Leader will be driving a RAV4 with license number starting with GB6.

MCT bike trails website. https://www.mcttrails.org/
Gardens at SIUE. https://www.siue.edu/gardens/
 

Level: Moderate

Cancellation Policy: Any rain cancels