Signage needs to be upgraded, real bike paths, not sidewalks, should introduced where not already present. Disjointed. This series of semi interconnected routes is mainly for local folks on casual / heavy bikes. For folks who like to ride some distance without frequent interuptions, road crossings, and or traffic lights, these routes are not for you.

I would suggest starting at the baseball field parking lot north of the calcite plant then riding north to 40 Mile Point Lighthouse. Next time I will pack a cooler and swim suit so that when I end back at the ball field beach, I’ll spend the afternoon!

I tried biking from Tower east and only made it to Onaway before turning around. The trail surface was rough for my hybrid bike. There was little shade, no benches, few points of interest. I was the only biker out on June 7, 2019, which was a Friday and a beautiful day. I think this trail has potential, and maybe there are some picturesque spots, but I chose to return to the North Central Trail at Wolverine, also crushed limestone but a smooth surface.

A gem, lightly used trails and remote beaches: romantic ride!

I had planned to ride the trail from Cheboygan, Mi. to Alpena. Other cyclists told me the trail was rough most of the way, so I decided to ride part of the trail North from Alpena. The 10 miles I rode was rough. There were tractor tire imprints left when the trail was driven over while still soft. It dried out then hardened. It was about like riding over a washboard....for those of you who know what that is. The part of the trail I rode was mostly through wooded areas. I was riding a Cannondale Synapse with 700x32 tires. The trail is more suited for hybrids or mountain bikes.

As noted in two other reviews, it is impossible to follow this "trail", which is basically riding on the sidewalks of Alpena. We got a map at the bike shop, but it's very difficult to follow. We spent over an hour trying to find our way from the bike shop to the Duck Lake area, with no success. There are occasional signs on the "trail", but you follow them, come to an intersection, and there is no indication of which way to turn. There is one nice area along the river, which is an actual bike path. Overall, very disappointing.

I rode from M33 to M27. Very nice, although a tad loose for 25mm tires. There is access to Aloha State Park (bathrooms, picnic tables, etc) from the trail. A park ranger stopped me at a crossing and gave me a FREE ICE CREAM ticket for being a safe rider! 😁

Careful on the bridge crossing the Cheboygan River (see my hazard alertin a different post).

The bridge crossing the Cheboygan River is potentially dangerous. The wood planking has some gaps wide enough for tires to get caught AND once caught, there is no escape. I nearly crashed!

Unless you feel lucky, best walk across the bridge.

I have been trying to get back into backpacking after a two year hiatus but also something to fight the city blues from being stuck in the concrete jungle. Pigeon River County State Forest did both quite nicely.

Beautiful plants with trees, plenty of distance from any cities or towns, well trod path, great support facilities (water pumps,campsites, etc), friendly people, a truly picturesque stream running through, excellent options on length, good signage.

Two minor complaints. 1) The trail could use a bit more love. There was on section in particular that was pretty over grown with the grasses. I did not have much trouble following the trail but it was almost completely overshadowed by the growth in places. There were also several substantial trees across the path that could do with clearing. 2) Better differentiation between the trails markers would make things much easier. All trails have the same blue triangle that indicates and ski/hiking path but there is more than one trail in the park. Nothing careful map work and a little orienteering can't overcome, but it would be much simpler if at least some sort of color coding was put in place.