Oak Leaf Trail


The Oak Leaf Trail is a paved multi-use recreational trail which encircles Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Clearly marked trail segments connect all of the major parks in the Milwaukee County Park System with a "ribbon of green."

Description

Early bicycling advocate Harold "Zip" Morgan first conceived and laid out a trail in 1939. The route made its way around the edge of the county and through natural resource corridors found along the rivers and lakefront. Three decades later the trail was officially established by the Milwaukee County Park Commission, and in 1966 construction of the parkland trails began. It became known as the 76 Bike Trail for the it spanned.
The present system of inter-connecting trails consists of of asphalt paths and of parkway, along with of municipal streets that have designated bicycle lanes and sidewalks. An outer loop of joins together the Lake Loop, Lincoln Creek Spur, Whitnall Loop and East-West Connector. The Root River Trail Extension was added in 2006. Another are currently in the planning stages, including trail linkages with the newer Hank Aaron State Trail in the Menomonee Valley and Lakeshore State Park. A new trail segment under Bluemound Road along Underwood Creek was completed in 2011 in the City of Wauwatosa.
Scenery along the Oak Leaf Trail varies from woodland parks, nature reserves, and a wildlife corridor along the lakefront, to urban industrial settings in Milwaukee's downtown area.