• Many beautiful trails like this may be found near Rockford, Ill.snowmobile trail -3 image by Rog999 from Fotolia.com
  
  Snowmobiling is immensely popular in the Midwest, with hundreds of thousands of riders taking to the trails every winter, and Illinois is no exception. There are several hundred miles of trails in the state, with several near the town of Rockford.
  
  

Rock Cut State Park

• Rock Cut State Park is administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and features 10 miles of groomed trails for snowmobiles. Like most trails in the state, this trail is open from December 15 to March 15, as long as there is 4 inches of snow on frozen ground, or 6 inches of snow on unfrozen ground.
  
  

Rock County Wisconsin

• Just across the Illinois/Wisconsin border from Rockford is Rock County in Wisconsin. Rock County has miles of trails administered by the county. There is a published trail map in PDF form, and the link to this map may be found in the Resource section below.
  
  

Franklin Creek State Natural Area

• Franklin Creek State Natural Area, about 36 miles from Rockford, is also administered by the Illinois DNR and has 6 miles of trails for snowmobiling. Dates and snow requirements are the same as for Rock Cut State Park.
  
  

Other Nearby Trails

• Dane County and Jefferson County, Wisconsin, both just across the border from Rockford, also have many miles of trails open to snowmobile riders. The Illinois Association of Snowmobile Clubs also publishes a map of trails administered by these private clubs. Most of these trails are on private land. The IASC does not publish the trail map on the Internet, as it uses sales of this map to help fund its organization. There is a link in the resource section to the IASC website, and information on purchasing one of these maps may be found there.