Oak Leaf Trail-Humboldt Park to Grant Park-then and now

Today John and I rode a portion of the Oak Leaf Bike Trail. The Oak Leaf Trail runs a total of 105 miles throughout Milwaukee. We have ridden many parts of this trail and always enjoy the scenery and easy rides. Today was the perfect day to ride along Lake Michigan so we decided to begin our ride at Humboldt Park on Oklahoma Ave. I apologize for this reading like a travel log but truth be told, that is what it is. I want to be able to come back to this post the next time we plan to ride this trail so I know where to start, where to snack, and where to go to the bathroom. These are all important things to cyclists of our age, especially the bathrooms. Here I am ready to get on the trail. We park near the bathrooms (do you sense a theme here) in Humboldt Park. We had gone about two blocks when John realized he had forgotten his gloves, so we went back and got those. John says he would rather forget a hat than his gloves. Anyway we rode up Oklahoma Ave. on the sidewalk. It is about a half mile until one reaches Bay View Park where we began our ride.

A Memorial in the Park. If one goes North toward Milwaukee on the trail for a short way you arrive at South Shore Park, a beautiful park with a beach right on the Lake, a concession stand, a playground, and a scenic view on the Milwaukee skyline.

We headed South as opposed to North to begin our trip, so this is the skyline view that we saw as we first began the trail. This trail goes uphill most of the way to Grant Park Beach, but we didn't really notice the grade until we were coming back and were able to coast a good portion of the way. I think the beautiful scenery helps divert one's mind from the uphill grade.

Being able to ride along the shore of Lake Michigan makes this ride not only pretty, but very cool even on a day where the temps away from the Lake hit 90.

We came upon a fork in the trail and decided to go down the path to the lake. Little did we know that this particular trail is a very, very big hill which is nice for going down, but impossible to ride back up. We walked our bikes up the hill, but want it noted here that we would not take this path off the main trail again.

The beach at the bottom of the very steep hill reminded us of the school house beach on Washington Island in that it is covered with smooth stones. Very nice spot, but not worth the hill.

This entire trail actually passes through at least four parks, all very scenic. There are two golf courses with snack shops and bathrooms in case you need food or relief. Here we are entering Grant Park in South Milwaukee. I always have to think of my very good friend, Joan when I see anything about South Milwaukee. Joan grew up there and we met during my freshmen year at Carroll College (now Carroll University) where we became fast friends and still are good friends today.

Before entering South Milwaukee, you leave Cudahy (UCLA-University of Cudahy by the lake almost) The two signs are actually right across the street from each other. One also travels through St. Francis and Bay View on this trail.

Much of the trail that does not have a direct view of the lake is through wooded areas like this. These parts of the trail remind John and I of our favorite trail in Point Beach State Park. It is hard to believe that one is just a few miles away from Milwaukee with all this wooded beauty around.

This is on our way back from Grant Park Beach. There is also a concession stand and bathrooms at Grant Park. There is a big hill that leads down to the beach and we were already planning to walk our bikes up the hill, but we hopped on our bikes and were able to get to the top under our own pedaling power! At this time I yelled out to John, "We are awesome Cyclists," to which he replied, "You are a cycling angel." You would have to have seen the commercials on TV about the Beach Angel to understand this humor, but it was pretty funny.

On this trip, we hit South Shore Park at the end of the ride instead of the beginning. We enjoyed two Diet Pepsis (how do you pluralize Pepsi anyway? Pepsies, Pepsis,) At any rate, this is a nice spot to stop and relax for a bit and just take it all it. Good people watching as well as jet watching as they prepare to land at Mitchell Field.

This is a little beach area right before South Shore Park (yep, out of place). You get there by taking the low trail instead of staying on the high one. Just keep following it and one runs right into the concession area of South Shore Park. I assume there are bathrooms there, too, but we did not use the facilities at this spot.

We did see this big blimp flying around. It had been featured on the news last night, but not sure what it was all about, just figured it was photo worthy.

We ended our ride with a stop at Wendy's for some of these yummy parfaits, they did not disappoint. Wendy's as well as Arby's, Subway, and some little restaurants are along Oklahoma Ave. for a treat after your ride. Clean bathrooms available, of course.

The entire ride today was in the neighborhood of 20 miles. My odometer is broken since the bike fell off the carrier sometime back, but we are pretty good at estimating our mileage. It is an easy ride for the most part with just a few hills, but nothing too terrible except that one steep hill which we all know, now, not to take. The trail is very family friendly, with playgrounds in various spots. It is a well traveled trail, too, so use cycle etiquette.

Get ready, now for a step back in time. The last time John and I rode this trail was in July, 2006 and I have the pictures to prove it.

Here I am on the little beach that you get to by taking the low trail. Okay, a few pounds thinner.

And here is my partner in crime somewhere along the trail way back in 2006.

Same sign, five years earlier. Same cyclist, five years earlier.

So ends our adventure on the Oak Leaf Trail. I hope you enjoyed my little travel log and that it will help those of you who like to cycle, but aren't sure of a good place to go.