Riding trails by me is trespassing
 

Are there any places near lockport, illinois (suburb of chicago) to ride? All the trails i've been on are on private property and you get yelled at or confronted by police if you ride them.

Just out of curiosity, is trespassing a crime in Illinois?

The best thing to do would be to get the landowners written permission.

I don't know about any legal local trails, but try searching out local riding groups.

Allen

There any state parks in IL that allow trail riding?

Here's one:

http://www.thecliffsinsaneterrain.com/index.html

Not exactly in your back yard, but less than 50 miles away. The $22 fee seems a little steep to me, but I'll bet it's cheaper than a trespassing citation........ :D

yeah if you get written permission from the landowners, there's nothing the cops can do

it's never a good idea to ride on someone's property without permission though

The idea is too prove to the owner that you are going to act responsively and not damage his properyt and you are showing respect by asking him first.

If you get the written permission make sure you carry a copy of it with you when you ride.

Allen

I believe in Britain, there is a public right of way or general access to the country side. I saw a TV show in which hikers annually trespass in mass. That was how they assert their public right of way. In the States, is it allowed if you're simply trying to pass a property in a rural area?

OK first start here at this SITE and read.

Looking at the IDNR site I see they have little to offer in the way of help but atleast there seems to be some places to ride.
(I didnt spend a lot of time looking though)

Is your bike a dualsport and licensed for the road ?, If so I'd just start riding the country roads and leave it at that as Illinios seems to not care much about providing trails atleast compared to michigan.

I myself try to stay well clear of the private land as there are people that can really go off on you in a bad way.
I'd prefer the cops chasing me off of state/federal land as to billyjobob in overalls and a sawed off shot gun on his private property.

It's not for vehicles, feet only. If we did what you did in the States trail riding wise we'd all be locked up for tresspass. Here in the UK we use old unused roads "green lanes". These roads are still on the map but have basically been forgotten over the years. The down side is we have a pretty fanatical and vocal "Ramblers Association" who want everything for themselves and want the lanes for their use only. This is what the Ramblers will do, if a path is shown to cross the middle of a field they will continue to use it even if there's crops there, they won't go around the edge of the field. They will trample the crop and use the path because they have the legal right to. They have even taken legal action against land and property owners who have moved paths, not closed or blocked them just moved them.

Jonathan.