Find the top rated cross country skiing trails in Battle Creek, whether you're looking for an easy short cross country skiing trail or a long cross country skiing trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a cross country skiing trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
I don't know why it's called the River Valley trail since most of it goes right next to the highway, with only occasional views of a river and no valley to be seen. We rode 20 miles starting in Galesburg. The first couple of miles were scenic, through a wooded area but the next 10 miles were along the highway - BORING AND UGLY. When we got to Kalamazoo, we found several detours because of unsafe bridges. That forced us to cross busy highways. While the trail surface was mostly good, the location of the trail was terrible.
This trail is one of those half-urban, half-nature trails. It's a bit difficult to stay on the urban parts, as trail markings are a bit rare, with the trail really hitting its stride in the nature segments.
What a lovely ride through the countryside! We rode in late April, so saw plenty of spring flowers and budding trees through the woods. We also enjoyed seeing some lambs and foals in the livestock pastures that we passed. The entire trail is paved, and in very good condition most of the way. We rode from Abshire Park in Goshen to Shipshewana and back, and stopped in Middlebury on the way out for lunch, and Mooey's for ice cream on the return trip. Just be aware that a lot of places are closed on Sundays, so try to ride on Saturday or a weekday. I would love to do this trail again in the fall, to see the change in scenery.
It's a nice easy ride and a great route for students commuting to and from campus. However, it's kind of squeezed between apartment complexes and residential areas in spots, which kind of cuts into the scenery a bit.
Nice, straight trail. Plenty of places for parking and amenities in each town. I wish it were paved all the way through, but in general the crushed limestone isn't a huge obstacle between towns. Highly recommend!
The sheer length of the trail is what makes it really worthwhile in my opinion. It covers South Lansing, Downtown, Hawk Island Park, Potter Park Zoo, and MSU's campus, which is a nice sampling of Greater Lansing. It's also nicely forested and quite scenic, especially in the fall. With that being said, the downtown stretch and the bit between Aurelius and Kalamazoo are both in need of repair; everything else is pretty much perfect, though!
This is a nice trail, with offshoot branches that help to differentiate it from other trails.
Pavement is mostly sooth except in the last section, what I guess are plant roots cracking upwards the pavement so badly that it actually launched my bum off the seat an inch or two.
This is an enjoyable trail that takes you through downtown jackson that will take you through different landscapes including a bit of nature, behind a local elementary school, a park and a bit of urban setting.
As of 2023, the city has started to upgrade the section closest to Falling Waters Trail.
It's a good round trip experience and I would recommend it to anyone considering it.
It's a good distance (round trip) and a smooth journey, but unless you're trying to jump on Romence Road Bikeway or Portage Creek Bicentennial Park, I honestly wouldn't bother.
It's way too short with nothing to see or do, so unless you're trying to jump on Lovers Lanes path or Portage Creek Bicentennial Park, I honestly wouldn't bother.
This trail takes you through a brief jaunt through nature and culminates in a stroll inside Michigan's first ever state prison. This is a very quick trail, so you might want to walk instead any other mode of transportation.
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