I ride a tadpole recumbent trike and found the trail to be mostly two ruts. That said, I also had no problems with the wheel spacing riding on either side of the rut or two wheels in the run and one in the center. The elevation between ruts and center were the same and the entire surface was smooth given that it is gravel. Several sections are covered with soil or a light cover of moss making them very smooth and quiet. Distances between stop signs is nice and lengthy (I like that). When going thru Shawano it's paved and has plenty of stop signs.

The trail is incomplete thru Shawano and there are no signs (that I could find) routing you to where you can pick the trail back up. My advice (when riding East to West) is to turn right onto S. Washington st then Left on W.Green Bay St. then Right on Locust Rd. then Left on Oak Ave. The trail will pick back up on the right a ways past Maple Ave. (my guess would be about 2+ miles of roads)

The shade was good along the trail and it has some nice sunny sections. Bring bug spray for the deer flies (not many but I still don't like to get bit). Also, (maybe it's the lower position of the trike) be prepared to get covered with the small non biting nats. I had sunscreen on so they stuck. My legs were covered after 30 miles.

Traffic on the trail is next to non-existent so make sure you have what you need for hydration, food and any flats or fixes. Watch for nail heads on the bridges as I've been told that they can puncture a tire. There is a bike shop in Shawano that is on the trail if you need some adjustments or repairs.

The trail will bring you past a lot of scenery and great wild flowers.

There are gates at most road crossings in Marathon and Brown Counties. There are no gates on the trail in Shawano County which extends from Eland to WI 32 crossing north of Pulaski.

It was a warm day when we rode the trail in August 2010. Our bike is a dual (side-by-side) recumbent that is 44" wide. Since the metal gates have a 42" gap, we had to stop twice at each road crossing, get off the bike, have my wife hold the gates while I wiggled the bike through. At the 9th gate, I had to carry the bike through the ditch and around the gate as the opening was too narrow to wiggle through. At this point, we had enough, and took the residential streets back to the parking lot. An okay trail for standard bikes.

Lyle & Nancy B.
Forest Lake, MN

"This limestone trail has become better packed and easier to ride since I first biked it in 1997. The trees provided plenty of shade on a series of hot and humid September days that I was there. Note, there is less shade in June and July when the sun angle is higher. The Marathon County portion has been resurfaced with limestone based gravel recently which provides a easier surface to bike on than the previous gravel surface that was there.
The city of Shawano is a great mid point to sleep in as most of the motels are less than a few blocks from the trail.
"

"Our family did this ride in 2003. We vary in physical ability but this was a nice ride for all of us except for the terrible deer flies on the trail. We started in Weston and rode to Shawano for the first day. The American Inn is right on the trail with a Wendy's and Perkins with in easy walking distance. For fun there is a indoor/outdoor theatre just down the road and a amusement park with go carts and game room about 1.5 from motel. We rode to Howard on the second day and once again there was an American Inn right off the trail, also a Hardee's and a gas station next door. We rode into Greenbay and then back the way we came for the next 2 days. It was a great way to spend 4 days with the family."

"The Mountain-Bay State Trail is a jewel for Howard-Pulaski residents, where you can enter into nature just a mile out of residential areas. Duck, pheasant, crane, deer, fox, as well as cows can be seen on any given daily ride."

This uneventful trail would be much better if the horseback riders and horse drawn carriages would clean up after their animals!

Surface in many areas is uneven and can be challanging to bicycles. Brown county has foolish gates that block access for emergency vehicles and present a hazard to all other users. They are opened in the winter to prevent killing snowmobilers but bikers are expendable we suppose.