Find the top rated mountain biking trails in Battle Creek, whether you're looking for an easy short mountain biking trail or a long mountain biking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a mountain biking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
The largely unimproved Fred Meijer Flat River Valley Rail Trail links the cities of Lowell, Belding and Greenville in Kent, Ionia and Montcalm counties, respectively. While plans call for the eventual...
Tradition says that Michigan has 11,000 lakes. The eastern section of the Lakelands Trail State Park passes through a chain of them as it rolls from the town of Hamburg and Lakeland to Munith some 26...
The Litchfield Nature Trail meanders through scenic property owned by the City of Litchfield, in some places adjacent to the St. Joseph (St. Joe) River. At one point, the trail passes through...
The Fred Meijer Grand River Valley Rail Trail is one component of a network of trails in mid-west Michigan that, when complete, will stretch 125 miles from Alma to Owosso. The trails are named after...
The Fred Meijer M-6 Trail runs for 9 miles paralleling Michigan Highway 6/Paul B. Henry Expressway south of Grand Rapids (a.k.a. the M-6). As such, it's not the most quiet of trails, but it still...
When complete, the Paul Henry - Thornapple Trail will be a 42-mile, multi-use recreation trail, extending from Grand Rapids to Vermontville; it eventually may be extended to Jackson. The trail is...
When complete, the Paul Henry - Thornapple Trail will be a 42-mile, multi-use recreation trail, extending from Grand Rapids to Vermontville; it eventually may be extended to Jackson. The trail is...
The Litchfield Nature Trail meanders through scenic property owned by the City of Litchfield, in some places adjacent to the St. Joseph (St. Joe) River. At one point, the trail passes through...
The Fred Meijer M-6 Trail runs for 9 miles paralleling Michigan Highway 6/Paul B. Henry Expressway south of Grand Rapids (a.k.a. the M-6). As such, it's not the most quiet of trails, but it still...
The Fred Meijer Grand River Valley Rail Trail is one component of a network of trails in mid-west Michigan that, when complete, will stretch 125 miles from Alma to Owosso. The trails are named after...
The largely unimproved Fred Meijer Flat River Valley Rail Trail links the cities of Lowell, Belding and Greenville in Kent, Ionia and Montcalm counties, respectively. While plans call for the eventual...
More than a half-dozen old railroad towns between Kalamazoo and South Haven offer rest and replenishment to travelers using the Kal-Haven Trail. The 34-mile crushed-limestone rail-trail links these...
Tradition says that Michigan has 11,000 lakes. The eastern section of the Lakelands Trail State Park passes through a chain of them as it rolls from the town of Hamburg and Lakeland to Munith some 26...
The Fred Meijer Grand River Valley Rail Trail is one component of a network of trails in mid-west Michigan that, when complete, will stretch 125 miles from Alma to Owosso. The trails are named after...
More than a half-dozen old railroad towns between Kalamazoo and South Haven offer rest and replenishment to travelers using the Kal-Haven Trail. The 34-mile crushed-limestone rail-trail links these...
The Fred Meijer M-6 Trail runs for 9 miles paralleling Michigan Highway 6/Paul B. Henry Expressway south of Grand Rapids (a.k.a. the M-6). As such, it's not the most quiet of trails, but it still...
The Litchfield Nature Trail meanders through scenic property owned by the City of Litchfield, in some places adjacent to the St. Joseph (St. Joe) River. At one point, the trail passes through...
When complete, the Paul Henry - Thornapple Trail will be a 42-mile, multi-use recreation trail, extending from Grand Rapids to Vermontville; it eventually may be extended to Jackson. The trail is...
Tradition says that Michigan has 11,000 lakes. The eastern section of the Lakelands Trail State Park passes through a chain of them as it rolls from the town of Hamburg and Lakeland to Munith some 26...
The largely unimproved Fred Meijer Flat River Valley Rail Trail links the cities of Lowell, Belding and Greenville in Kent, Ionia and Montcalm counties, respectively. While plans call for the eventual...
Good condition for cycling and flat. The lakes make for a scenic ride and you can increase the distance easily with a few detours.
Sad that I can’t give this a higher rating, as I use to run on it for many years. Now as a cyclist I see it from a different aspect and it it not a great biking trail . For being such an urban gem, parts of it are just horrible to ride. A shame that with this being the capital city and where many associations are located that there is so little improvement and expansion of this trail.
We road from Middleville to Hastings & back. Trail was paved with beautiful scenery for a few miles south of Middleville. Then turned into grass ( abandonned railway bed), then dead ended
Parts of the trail were very nice, like the river and some of the trail going north around town. Some of the trail need to be reset faced pretty badly. The far west start is a best- no parking and trail in neglect.
I have not been on trail since 2014. It is still perfect from the 2014 resurfacing of new asphalt. I went from KCC circled around college down through CO Brown Stadium down along Wagner Drive which has had a lot work done, great breeze off the river, and waterfall, new Kayak launch area , new fishing pier, picnic tables, passed several port a johns, etc all the way downtown, circle around Under Ground Railroad and Dr. Kellogg’s house.
Best access to this short trail is from Victory Park. The new hilly section up southeast from the park to the cemetery and through this park is the most shaded and scenic. The western portion is very peaceful but somewhat hard to find unless you follow the signs from downtown which has been a real mess due to repeated repaving of main street requiring M 99 detour. The trail is paved and in fairly good condition except through the cemetery (gravel) but easily manageable on a mountain bike. YOU CAN CONNECT TO THE FALLING WATERS TRAIL IN CONCORD VIA ALBION RD, WHICH HAS DECENT PAVED SHOULDER FOR PART OF THE WAY AND DOES NOT HAVE VERY HEAVY TRAFFIC.
Rode the entire trail from Concord to Weatherwax Rd trail head plus the beautiful new 1 mile paved spur to Falling Waters Park. Surface is in excellent condition, suitable for inline skating. Unlike a lot of rails-to-trails locations it has gentle curves to keep it interesting and outstanding detailed signage. It is completely rural and peaceful, very few houses even visible from trail, with vistas of several lakes and lots of wooded sections. Trail is mostly shaded, except where it runs on the causeway through Lime Lake.
One major downside: No access to drinking water directly on the trail. I found outdoor drinking fountain at the Middle School on West Street once the trail enters Jackson and the name changes to MLK Trail and surface is much less smooth past Weatherwax Road. Another worthwhile 1.5 mile detour is about 3-4 miles from Concord north on a small paved country road to the original historic site of the Spring Arbor settlement and college. Entrance is free, several markers explain the history and there is an old-fashioned hand pump which produces fresh cold water, what a delight on a very hot day.
Loved the trail. Beautiful scenery. There was a short distance on roads but all in all one of the best trails I’ve been on. Also, the Amish people riding along the route were so nice, always a smile and a wave.
Was in town for a MX race in Michigan. Had never been on this trail, we stopped in Goshen Friday and started there. Trail was nice, a few slight hills along the way. Many rest stops and bathrooms as well. The Krider Gardens along the way are very pretty. Trail was quite busy with bikers, many Amish were riding back and forth as well. Would like to do the whole trail from Elkhart to the end, another time.
I was riding from Alma to Greenville (FM Heartland), Greenville to Lowell (FM Flat River), Lowell to Ionia (FM Grand River), Ionia to Fowler (FM Clinton-Ionia-Shiawassee), then roads back to Alma.
On the FM Flat River segment I made it about 5 miles from Greenville, almost to Belding, before bailing and using roads to cut over to Ionia and skipping the Grand River segment.
FM Flat River between Greenville and Belding is not recommended or fun on any bike I can think of, due to occasional pockets of deep loose basalt that cause tires to dig in and fishtail/skid suddenly. Anti-truck and ATV barriers are missing and surface has loose areas from vehicle traffic. As of 7/3/18 the cover photo blocking tree is still across the trail too, though enough branches are trimmed off to climb through with a bike.
Disappointing as I wanted to do the whole loop, but the potential for this to be epic in the future is high.
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (a non-profit) and we need your support!
