Find the top rated hiking trails in Big Rapids, whether you're looking for an easy short hiking trail or a long hiking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a hiking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Smooooooth! Rode this trail for the first time started in Rothbury and headed south picked up the connecting White Lake Trail then to the berry junction trail. It was a great 40 miles. Per the description of the trail I was planning to buy ice cream in new era but I just lost steam thank goodness because if I tried to go the extra 2 miles to get to the ice cream I would’ve found the store closed on a Sunday boo
The trail starting from Foreman Street in Lowell is still a rocky rough ride. The rails are gone, but that's about as far as it has progressed.
The section between Reed City and Baldwin has been ruined by horse traffic. I have 32c tires on my hybrid bike and was hoping to ride that section yesterday, but turned around almost immediately due to the rough condition. If you have a mountain bike, it might be doable, but I don't imagine it would be very pleasant.
Also, be forewarned that there are no restrooms on the trail itself on the Clare to Reed City segment. There are a few options in town of Evart.
Overall, the Farwell to Baldwin section is decent. The older section between Evart and Reed City is starting to show it's age with cracks the have gone unsealed so have vegetation growing from them.
The Midland to Clare section is very well maintained and offers two permanent bathroom facilities, one each at about 12 miles from each trailhead.
As part of my Seattle to Savannah cross-country ride I used these rails-to-trail paths to get from Baldwin to Midland. The first 17 miles from Baldwin to Reed City is crushed limestone. I rode about 100 yards of the trail in Baldwin and decided that this crushed limestone was too loose to ride. I jumped on Route 10 and found a reasonable shoulder to ride. I checked the trail about 10 miles from Baldwin, the stone was more packed and could support a ride, but Route 10 was still considered the best ride option.
Just to the east of Reed City on Route 10 signage appeared for the Pere Marquette State Trail. I jumped on the trail here and rode to the old Reed City Depot Station. The trail was a bit rough with grass growing in open seams. The same was true for about 8 miles east of Reed City. The trail was still a pretty good ride. The rest of the trail to Midland was mostly smooth with only small sections with rough seams.
Since the trail runs close to Route 10, there were options to dart into small towns for water and food.
Just east of Clare the State Trail ends. I was required to ride about 4 miles on the highway and through Clare to rejoin the trail system. I used Google Maps for Bikes to find my way.
Thank you Michigan for such a nice ride.
We rode from Alma to Greenville. It took about 7 hours going on average 11-12 mph and stopping a few times. The trail was in great condition and very quiet. A few low hanging branches that added to the fun. In Greenville we stayed the night at The Winter Inn which was very interesting, different and nostalgic. The rooms were very clean and the beds were comfortable. We also had drinks and dinner there. There’s s beautiful outdoor patio which unfortunately we couldn’t enjoy because of the rain. The Winter Inn is a short,easy, safe distance from the trail. The next morning we started our ride home by doing the heartland River Trsil that goes around Baldwin Lake. I would highly recommend that.
In its current wonderful condition, this trail is the Gold Standard. We’ve done Montague to Shelby and back, and New Era to Hart and back, on separate occasions. We’ll eventually do the whole thing up and back, but that’s a long day for us, as we drive up from Kalamazoo. Of the 2, we like the New Era to Hart ride the best, as there are many wonderful wooded sections. This trail is a gem. I wish they were all like this!
I rode my Recumbent Terra Trike from the parking lot in Belmont to Sand Lake, round trip just under 35 miles. I have rheumatoid arthritis, so biking is a thing of the past. Parts of the trail are in desperate need of repair, as the tree roots are making some of the trail not so pleasant. I also like to inline skate, and many portions of this trail are making inline skating less of an option.
I rode the portion of the trail between Hart and Rothbury. It is a very pretty trail with a lot of variety. There are a lot of forested/shady sections north of Shelby. Further south the trail opens up some. There are many options for food in the small towns along the trail. Taqueria El Paisano in Shelby has very good and authentic Mexican fare. The surface was in very good shape. I wish the signage for finding the trailheads was better. There was nothing on M-20 or in Shelby telling where to find parking for the trail.
Good, flat riding. Lots of tree cover & shade. We started out at Hart and went to Shelby & bike. Good info on POI in Hart at the N trailhead.
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.
We did this very quiet trail yesterday from Marne to Ravenna and back, for a total of 26 miles. As a previous reviewer noted, it is in need of resurfacing, but we didn't find it to be that terrible. Granted, we only average about 10 mph - a road biker might be more sensitive to the buckling and pitting in places. Ravenna has little to nothing to offer; we went to the Dollar General and got Gatorades, but then discovered a grocery store, so we'll hit that next time. We stopped in Conklin on the way back and went to the Conklin Bar - looks like a dive, but what a friendly place! Had a really nice time talking with the locals. Try their local cider, "Pux". Overall a very nice day - looking forward to autumn when the scenery is at its best.
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