Beloit offers great access to biking, hiking, birding and water trails.
Click here to download Beloit Trails Guide & MapRiverside Corridor Bike/Walking Trail
Location: Riverside Park, 1160 Riverside Dr.
Length: Approximately 9 mile loop
Features: This is one of the most popular places in Beloit to enjoy a run, a bike ride or a leisurely stoll along our beautiful riverfront. This paved trail winds along both sides of the Rock River and offers a variety of stops and lengths to enjoy. A recent shoreline restoration on the east side of the river included prairie plantings that are flourishing. Quite a bit of public art can be found along the trail. Restrooms are available in Riverside Park.
Trail Heads/Parking
• Rotary River Center (1160 Riverside Dr.)
• Mid-Lawn Parking Lot (across from ABC Supply Headquarters on the north side of the tennis courts)
• North Parking Lot (across from the Eclipse Center on Riverside Dr.)
• US Pride Park (1765 Shore Drive)
• Iron Works South Parking Lot (Third St. and W. Grand Ave.)
• Along Water Street
• Turtle Park (1312 E. Grand Ave.)
Stateline Prairie Restoration Park Nature Trail
Location: 400 Colby St.
Length: Under 1 mile loop
Features: This is a small park in an urban setting. Recently reclaimed and planted, it is now flourishing with prairie plants. Turtle Creek runs along one edge of the park. Crushed gravel trail. No restrooms.
Harper’s Prairie Nature Trail
Location: 2201 Whipple St. (Parking also avail. along Frederick St.)
Length: .63 mile loop
Features: This small park offers a mowed walking trail around a pond. Prairie plants and water plants are abundant. No restrooms.
Turtle Creek Greenway Nature & Ski Trails
Features: These trails offer you a way to get into nature right in the city! The mowed trails wind through woods following the contours of Turtle Creek. Wildlife sightings are frequent, including deer, fox, and hawks. There are varying options of trail length, with different loops available at different access points. Cross Country Ski Trails are groomed in the winter. No restrooms available.
Deerfield Estates Trail – Length: 2.63 miles – (Canterbury Dr., Deerfield and Sarah Ln., Creek Rd. and W. Hart Rd.)
Chatsworth Trail – Length: .91 mile – (Crittenden and Austin Pl., Chatsworth and E. Collingswood)
Moccasin Trail – Length: 1.29 miles– (Moccasin Trail and Bootmaker)
Milwaukee Road Trail – Length: 2.6 miles – (Across from 1930 Milwaukee Road)
Big Hill Regional Park Nature, Bike & Ski Trails
Location: 1101 Big Hill Rd.
Trail Length: Unpaved trails (both gravel and mowed dirt) over 5 miles; Paved bike path.
Features: Big Hill Park is one of Beloit’s most scenic sites. Located on the bluffs of the Rock River, this 190-acre park boasts nature and hiking trails, an environmental education center, bike trail, cross-country ski trail, a scenic overlook with spectacular vistas.
Big Hill Park was built as a memorial park for people who gave their life in World War I. Much of the construction took place in the early 1930’s by the Wisconsin Civilian Conservation Corps. A famous 90 ft. bluff on the West bank of the Rock River had been used to hold annual ski jumping competitions by the Beloit Ski Club. When warm winter spells hit the City would import snow in railroad gondolas that were unloaded at the base of the slope. Even though the ski jump is no longer in existence, the spectacular view remains from the top of the bluff and you can now enjoy the view from the scenic overlook.
Beloit Water Trails
Rock River
Beloit is located at the half-way point of the 320 mile Rock River Trail, a national water trail. Due to a large dam in Beloit, you have two paddling options available on the Rock River: Launch north of Beloit and paddle down to take out before the dam, or launch at the John Rose Kayak and Canoe Launch and head downriver into Illinois.
Beloit offers great access to biking, hiking, birding and water trails.
Beloit Water Trails Map
Rock River Launches
Wootton Park – 1451 Fourth Street
John Rose Canoe/Kayak Launch – 534 Fourth Street (Chester Square Public Parking Lot) Click for map
Turtle Creek
Turtle Creek is a beautiful waterway lined with woods that winds its way through 7 miles of Beloit. It’s fun creek to kayak, canoe or tube on. Launch kayaks just north of Beloit. Click here to visit Friends of Turtle Creek for details about paddling on Turtle Creek.
Riverside Park Lagoon Paddle Boat Rental
Location: Riverside Park, 1160 Riverside Drive
Features: Have fun paddling with friends and family on our lagoon paddleboats. Single kayaks are also available. Lagoon Rates and Hours
Birding Trails
Location: Big Hill Park, 1101 Big Hill Rd.
Big Hill Park is listed on the Great Wisconsin Birding and Nature Trail. This 190-acre park offers the bird watcher a large wooded area along the sandstone bluffs on the west side of the Rock River. The park has a nature trail loop that leads from the bluffs to the river and then follows a former railroad grade. There’s also a scenic overlook with spectacular vistas, and an environmental education center. During the spring, the Rock River serves as a migratory route for hawks, passerines and waterfowl of all types making a trip to this park worthwhile.
Other Hike, Bike and Water Trail Resources
Beloit has several friends groups in the area that maintain trails, create maps and hold events throughout the year.
Stateline Spinners Bike Group
The Stateline Spinners is a voluntary association of bicyclists in the area that enjoy riding together for fun! They have created a a collection of bike routes in the Greater Beloit Area that include are 33 routes covering urban areas and the picturesque countryside of Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois.
Beloit Bike RoutesRock River Trail
You can paddle the Rock River Water Trail along the 320-mile river course from the headwaters in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, to the Mississippi River at Rock Island, Illinois. The Rock River Trail is a “National Water Trail” and “Scenic and Historic Route”. Visit their site For more information about the Rock River Trail, including bike routes, paddle maps, launch locations and dams information on the Rock River.
Rock River TrailFriends of Turtle Creek
Turtle Creek winds its way for over 30 miles from Turtle Lake near Delavan, Wisconsin to the Rock River in South Beloit, Illinois. This scenic waterway offers great opportunities for paddling, tubing and fishing. Tiffany Bridge, a historic, hand-built, 5-arch limestone railroad bridge near Shopiere, WI is one of the most photographed historic icons in Rock County.
Friend of Turtle CreekRock Trail Coalition
Formed in 1992, the Rock Trail Coalition is a group of volunteers dedicated to the development, maintenance and enjoyment of hiking, biking and recreational trails in Rock County. Most recently, the Rock Trail Coalition has been working on the Beloit-Janesville Bicycle Route (Peace Trail) and the Beloit portion of this connection starts in Big Hill Park. This trail will provide a regional bicycling and recreation connection focused on Rock County’s natural and cultural heritage,specifically celebrating the Rock River and associated environmental corridors as a unique ecosystem with local and regional significance.
Rock Trail Coalition