The trail stretches between Appleton Avenue (Highway 175) in Menomonee Falls to just east of North Lake in Merton.

A separate 4-foot wide bridle trail adjacent to the original 8-foot wide recreation trail extends 2.5 miles (4.0 km) from The Ranch in Menomonee Falls to Menomonee Park where it joins the park bridle trails.

Passengers compared the route as similar to that of "a bug following a grapevine"; later, locals referred to it simply as the Bugline.

[5] The trail itself opened in 1983,[6] with an initial length of 10.5 miles (16.9 km) from Appleton Avenue in Menomonee Falls to Oakwood Road in Lisbon.

[7] In 1987, the county purchased land to extend the trail 1.65 miles (2.66 km) into the village of Merton.