Ionia Recreation Area (Sessions Lake):
Michigan
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Description:
Ionia Recreation Area has rolling hills, open meadows, forested ridges, a deep lake nestled in the hills and a river winding through woods and fields.

In terms of mountain biking, the trail consists of 3 loops: 2 green loops, and a brown loop. The brown loop is the smallest, at 2.8 miles, The green loop is really one big loop split into a 3.6 mile loop, and a 5.8 mile loop. This trail is intermediate but it is pretty technical and throws a lot of stuff at you like dips, hills, logs, sand, and tight turns. It goes through woods and is pretty rural with streams and railroad tracks. It is very scenic and very cool, and is very well keep up. It is a beautiful trail and is highly recommended.

These trails are maintained in part by volunteers of the Michigan Mountain Biking Association (MMBA).
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Parking & Trail Access:
How to get there from Grand Rapids or Lansing: Between Grand Rapids and Lansing is where Ionia is located. Take I-96 then use exit 64 and go north on Jordan Lake Road. The park entrance is about 3 miles away. Maps of the area may be obtained at the park office.
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Reviews: [0 trail ratings]
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Bit Off More than I Could "Chew"
By 20fan in July, 2008
i was way over ambitious, i got a mile into the trail and my bike seat broke (guess my feet slipped off the pedals a few too many times) the trail looks awesome, i wish i have a REAL mtn bike for it, probably would have been sweet, but lots and LOTS of roots across the path like chatter bumps, and rocks, not little ones but big ol' ones, and the ruts are really deep, scraped my pedals on it constantly ... overall i love Ionia, i have been there many times in the past years, and still go there to swim and camp, but those trails are not for moderate riders, i would say it would be one of the easier of the advanced trails. my bike shop i go to said that i should not ride on that trail without the proper experience and the right bike, but gosh it sure looked fun ... if you want steep ups and downs and hairpin turns, this is your trail.
Not for 50? I disagree!
By Mark Hagar in December, 2004
"Hey, I'm still riding it at 51, and this trail is no problem for me!"
Not for riders over 50
By Roger and Lois in June, 2004
"My husband and I have been trying out a lot of different bike trails in Michigan. We were quite disappointed in the Ionia Recreation Area trail. The reason is not that it is a bad trail, it was just too difficult for us. We are used to riding the rail-trails.

This trail is, in our opinion, for the young riders with dirt bikes that don't mind getting bounced, thrown around twisted and dirty. It may have been worse because of the wet muddy areas due to the bad rains that we have been having, but even in the best of weather it is a difficult ride for the average rider. Again this is just our opinion. We also wasted about an hour finding the right place to start the trail. We stopped in at the ranger station and got directions from the ranger, but when we actually got our truck parked and started to follow the signs we ended up going on a very hilly, stony two track lane for about a mile before we decided that it couldn't be the right track. Our teeth were rattled and our bodies were jarred from all of the little stones in the trail. We had to find another ranger cruising in his car to get better directions, and no way would we have found the trail from the map.

Overall it was disappointing. If you like to really get bounced and twisted around you may like it. I guess we would have been better off just walking it. "
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