Anyone ever ridden from Chicago out to Barrington?

I'm thinking about doing this ride. Any route suggestions besides the Google maps bicycle filter?

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Permalink Reply by David Barish on July 3, 2012 at 6:05am

There are a few routes in the Evanston Bike Club Cue Sheet Library that should help. http://www.evanstonbikeclub.org/ASP/cuesheetlist.asp

 

This is essentially a two part ride. Get to Long Grove and then using Cuba Rd. get towards Barrington.  Look at the Long Grove, Cuba Marsh and Algonguin rides and adapt them to your ride. You have to figure out how to enter the routes from where you will start in Chicago. Then you have to figure out how to get from Cuba Rd. or wherever you are on the cue sheet to your Barrington destination.  I suggest the Active Trans map so you can use the best riding roads. There are great riding roads, such as Cuba, and there are highways that are lousy for cycling. This should be  an enjoyable ride.

Permalink Reply by Sir Bikes-A-Lot on July 5, 2012 at 7:25am

I've ridden from Chicago to Fox River Grove, which is the next town north of Barrington.  I take the blue line to the end at Forrest Park, then hop on the Illinois Prairie Trail to the Great Western Trail and finally the Fox River trail.  The first half of the ride is a little dull, but once you hit the Fox River Trail, it's beautiful.  That is one of my favorite trails.  It's all very well marked and shouldn't need a cue card on the trail.  Once you get off the trail and head toward Barrington Hills or wherever you plan on riding, that will need more assistance. Cue cards, GPS, whatever you've got, I use google maps on my phone.

http://runkeeper.com/user/adamwonak/activity/63951663

Permalink Reply by Bill W. on July 5, 2012 at 8:36am

Hi,

I've done this ride a number of times. I live downtown and the route I take is pretty simple. North on Milwaukee, West on Nortwest Highway. This will take through/to Barrington. 

Permalink Reply by Mike Tobin on July 5, 2012 at 8:59am

I do it frequently. In fact, I plan to ride it Sunday. Not the best ride ever in fact there may be a better way than I do it. But, I take the lake shore bike path and go North then Sheridan North until you get to the spot where Bicycles are verboten (the cops stopped me once.) I take tower road to Green bay road. Take that to lake cook, then a straight shot into Barrington. There are a few spooky spots where you go across merge lanes, but they haven't killed me yet. It's a 40 miler one way.

But I think it's a better route than NW Hwy. That's too industrial.

 

Permalink Reply by LOWELL NELSON on July 5, 2012 at 9:18am

I live about half-way along this route in Park Ridge. From the City to park Ridge Elston/Milwaukee works to Devon, but I'd recommend heading west at BrynMawr and following Avondale, Summit and Busse along the Metra tracks to Des Plaines.
In Des Plaines you can pick up Northwest Highway (different than Northwest Highway in Park Ridge) which if you don't mind a road with 2 travel lanes in each direction with cars going 35-50 mph you can take all the way to Barrington. The worst spot is just west of Des Plaines where the roadway curves and goes beneath two intersecting rail tracks!!! It's pretty scarry, but I know and have seen people who commute through this underpass.
A safer, longer, more scenic route was mapped out by biking folks from Palatine, Mt Prospect and Park Ridge in 2007. This route avoids the underpass and other sketchy stretches of Northwest Highway. http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=618811
The nice thing about this route is you have the option to jump onto the Metra Northwest Line from Norwood Park on out to Barrington.
Let me know if you have any questions. Enjoy the ride.

Permalink Reply by Scott Padiak on July 5, 2012 at 10:22am

I have a route that I ride between the North Tranch Trail and downtown Long Grove. I developed this route using the excellent Chicagoland Bike Map from the Active Transportation Alliance.

About a mile north of the Lake Street overpass the Trail offers a short leg north to Winnetka rd.  This half mile leg is actually the old end of the Trail before the extension up to Dundee was added in the early "70s.  Take the Old End north to Dundee and continue straight north on Northfiel Road.  (Northfield Rd changes names to Old Willow Rd after 1/2 mile at Willow).  Continue north on Old Willow rd,  it will dogleg to the west (1/4 mile), around St Philip the Apostle Church.  Turn right to go north on Happ rd directly in front of the church.  Continue north on Happ about 1 1/2 mile till it dead ends on Sunset Ridge Road.  Turn left to go south on Sunset Ridge for less than 1/4 mile. Turn right to go west on Voltz Road.  Follow Voltz 1 mile and turn right onto Grant road going north.  Follow Grant till it dead ends onto Lee Road.  Turn left on Lee going south for 1/4 mile.  Turn rigth onto Walters Ave going west.  Continue west on Walters 7/8 mile till you get to Meadow Road, at the far end of the Northbrook Vilage Green.  Turn right to go north on Meadow.  3/8 mile north of Walters turn left to go west onto Cherry Lane.  (You will pass under the Metra tracks).  1 1/2 miles west on Cherry will get you to Landwehr Road.  Turn right to go north on Landwehr and follow it 1 1/2 miles (last 3/8 mile will be called Huehl Road) and it will get you to Commercial Ave.  Turn left to go West on Commercial and follow it 1 mile to get to Sanders road.  Turn right to go north on Sanders.  Continue north on Sanders (Saunders north of the county line) for 1 1/2 miles to Deerfield Road.  Turn left to go west on Dearfield.  (If you are riding during rush hour this will be the hairy part of the trip,  but there is just no going west somtimes). Continue west on Dearfield 2 1/2 miles (past Milwaukee) to Barclay Blvd.  Turn right to go north on Barclay.  Follow Barclay 1 mile to Aptakisic Road.  Turn left to go west on Aptikisic.  Continue west on Aptikisic 3 miles till it dead ends onto Mundelein Road.  Turn left to go south on Mundelein.  1/4 mile south on Mundelein turn rigth to go west onto Robert Parker Coffin road.  Continue on RPCR 1 mile to get to Old McHenry Road.  (You are now in downtown Long Grove).  You can continue west on RPCR which will turn into Long Grove Road. After another 6 miles you will get to the east end of Barrington.

Good luck.  Scott

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on July 5, 2012 at 12:51pm

I've ridden this as far as Landwehr/Huehl and liked it.  It's a mix of residential and commercial, with shade in some places.  I haven't tried the more scenic one for which Lowell Nelson provided the link, but it looks like a reasonable option.  

Milwaukee and Northwest Hwy. is the most direct and most brutal option - heavy traffic, fast in many sections, with lots of commercial development and many curb cuts/potential conflict points.  It can be okay for short stretches, but not pleasant to ride all the way to Barrington.

Scott Padiak said:

I have a route that I ride between the North Tranch Trail and downtown Long Grove. I developed this route using the excellent Chicagoland Bike Map from the Active Transportation Alliance.

About a mile north of the Lake Street overpass the Trail offers a short leg north to Winnetka rd.  This half mile leg is actually the old end of the Trail before the extension up to Dundee was added in the early "70s.  Take the Old End north to Dundee and continue straight north on Northfiel Road.  (Northfield Rd changes names to Old Willow Rd after 1/2 mile at Willow).  Continue north on Old Willow rd,  it will dogleg to the west (1/4 mile), around St Philip the Apostle Church.  Turn right to go north on Happ rd directly in front of the church.  Continue north on Happ about 1 1/2 mile till it dead ends on Sunset Ridge Road.  Turn left to go south on Sunset Ridge for less than 1/4 mile. Turn right to go west on Voltz Road.  Follow Voltz 1 mile and turn right onto Grant road going north.  Follow Grant till it dead ends onto Lee Road.  Turn left on Lee going south for 1/4 mile.  Turn rigth onto Walters Ave going west.  Continue west on Walters 7/8 mile till you get to Meadow Road, at the far end of the Northbrook Vilage Green.  Turn right to go north on Meadow.  3/8 mile north of Walters turn left to go west onto Cherry Lane.  (You will pass under the Metra tracks).  1 1/2 miles west on Cherry will get you to Landwehr Road.  Turn right to go north on Landwehr and follow it 1 1/2 miles (last 3/8 mile will be called Huehl Road) and it will get you to Commercial Ave.  Turn left to go West on Commercial and follow it 1 mile to get to Sanders road.  Turn right to go north on Sanders.  Continue north on Sanders (Saunders north of the county line) for 1 1/2 miles to Deerfield Road.  Turn left to go west on Dearfield.  (If you are riding during rush hour this will be the hairy part of the trip,  but there is just no going west somtimes). Continue west on Dearfield 2 1/2 miles (past Milwaukee) to Barclay Blvd.  Turn right to go north on Barclay.  Follow Barclay 1 mile to Aptakisic Road.  Turn left to go west on Aptikisic.  Continue west on Aptikisic 3 miles till it dead ends onto Mundelein Road.  Turn left to go south on Mundelein.  1/4 mile south on Mundelein turn rigth to go west onto Robert Parker Coffin road.  Continue on RPCR 1 mile to get to Old McHenry Road.  (You are now in downtown Long Grove).  You can continue west on RPCR which will turn into Long Grove Road. After another 6 miles you will get to the east end of Barrington.

Good luck.  Scott

Permalink Reply by mike w. on July 5, 2012 at 4:08pm

My $.02:

i live in Palatine.  i have a rather twisting route that basically gets me west of DT Palatine and westbound on Palatine Rd. (DON'T try to ride on Palatine E of Northwest Hwy!) but west of town it isn't too bad. i ride out past Barrington Rd and pick up a short trail across the road from Crabtree Nature Center and from there cross Algonquin Rd at Penny road. Go West on Penny (Note: BAD pavement, but light-ish traffic, new pavement being done W of Rt.59 .) Penny road takes you into Barrington Hills and ends at Dundee rd. in East Dundee & Carpentersville. i sometimes go to the Fox River trail from there.

 

i have a couple of routes E/W from Palatine into the north suburbs & Chicago that are a bit complex to note here, but involve 1 - 2 mile hops on Lake/Euclid and/or Milwaukee, and a jaunt down Glenview Rd. There is no good way to get over  the Des Plaines river this far north. Glenview Rd. is easily reached from Chicago/Evanston/Wilmette by any number of decent routes.

 

i don't recommend Northwest Hwy. Some stretches are indeed safe enough, but mostly far too busy and the drivers will not expect to see a rider. Same for much of Milwaukee ave. although North of Lake ave. as far as the River Rd. junction is okay much of the time, especially early on weekends.

 

  i heartily recommend you study MapQuest or Googlemaps...

 

HTH, YMMV

Permalink Reply by Michael A on July 5, 2012 at 8:35pm

Here are a couple routes I use, they are not designed to go directly to Barrington, I use these for a nice century with some hills to train on

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/191990969 < truncated because we had to take a train home due to a mechanical

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/179876705

Permalink Reply by Felix Angelov on July 7, 2012 at 10:08am

You can bypass a large portion of Deerfiled road by taking Forrest way. When you turn Right (North) on Saunders, immediately after passing under the highway (150 feet) make a left on Forrest Way. It will dead end on Portwine. Make a right (north). You will need to cross Lake Cook Road (long traffic light). Stay on Portwine untill Orange Brace (second stop sign) and make a left (west). It will end/continue into Thornmeadow (stay right at the fork). This will take you to Deerfield. Make a left (west). There is a new bike path (very short) on the south side. You can take it for 1/4 mile. Continue west on Deerfield Rd, cross Milwaukee and take Barclay on the right (north). This saves you about from riding a mile on Deerfield Rd and takes you to nicer neighborhoods.

Permalink Reply by Scott Padiak on July 9, 2012 at 5:30am

Thanks much!  This looks to be a great improvement over my route.   Can't wait to try it!  Scott
 
Felix Angelov said:

You can bypass a large portion of Deerfiled road by taking Forrest way. When you turn Right (North) on Saunders, immediately after passing under the highway (150 feet) make a left on Forrest Way. It will dead end on Portwine. Make a right (north). You will need to cross Lake Cook Road (long traffic light). Stay on Portwine untill Orange Brace (second stop sign) and make a left (west). It will end/continue into Thornmeadow (stay right at the fork). This will take you to Deerfield. Make a left (west). There is a new bike path (very short) on the south side. You can take it for 1/4 mile. Continue west on Deerfield Rd, cross Milwaukee and take Barclay on the right (north). This saves you about from riding a mile on Deerfield Rd and takes you to nicer neighborhoods.

Permalink Reply by MeganK on August 20, 2012 at 7:26am

Piggybacking on this to ask about routes around Barrington... I live in Logan Square and have been trying to figure out a route to my family in South Barrington. I'm very familiar with the bike trail from Harper College down Algonquin to Penny, but at this point I'm just trying to find a safe route from the Metra to Algonquin & Penny. If only Cabtree Preserve had a bike path all the way from Dundee! Biking from Barrington Metra would be closer, but I wonder if there's a safer option from Palatine. Any thoughts?

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