Van Buren Trail State Park Definitiely Not for the Average Cyclist or Possibly Any Cyclist By jgabel5994 in 7/22/2011 7:11:53 PM | On the morning of July, 20, 2011, my wife and I attempted to ride this trail starting at the Hartford end. We consider ourselves average, casual cyclist. We both have mountain bikes. We were only able to go a little over two miles, before we had to turn back. Over the two plus miles, we were able to steer around many fallen branches and we were able to carry our bikes over two fallen trees. However, we did not try to get through the third fallen tree which was much bigger than the first two. Plus, we figured there would probably be more fallen trees ahead. After the first mile or so, the grass was much taller which made it rougher to ride, but doable, and there were patches of soft sand you needed to look out for. Oh ya, be sure to bring your bug spray. The next day, July 21, 2011, we traveled to South Haven and rode the KalHaven Trail, which is extremely well maintained and a pleasure to ride. We would give that trail a four or five star. If the Van Buren Trail were maintained a bit better, we believe it would have great potential.