Find the top rated birding trails in East Grand Rapids, whether you're looking for an easy short birding trail or a long birding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a birding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
I live right next to this trail and it's always a lot of fun but be mindful of the dozens of people. It connects to many places like the Crossroads mall, which makes it easy to hang out with friends.
November 2021 rode from Alma out 15 miles and back. Parked in city parking at very start of trail. Parking there a short ride on trail crossing a few easy to cross streets till reaching College area where the main trail opens up. We saw parking in College is where most parked. Heavy leaf cover this time of year, so could not see trail most of time, trail had a few areas of bumps. Over all the ride was smooth. Will ride rest soon.
We completed this trail in October just as the leaves were starting to turn and plan to make this an annual ride. The 34 mile trail is well maintained, smooth and full of woodland and rural scenery.....God's Fingerprints everywhere. Our ride included linking to the Van Buren State Trail after traversing through the bike lanes in South Haven and a stop at Rock & Road Cycle for a quick repair. These guys are so accommodating and they truly enjoy their career.
A shout out to Kal-Haven Outpost for providing a perfect camp site right next to the trail.
From Owosso to Ionia it’s a great riding trail. Love the mix of shade, sun, wild life. The small towns along the way offer pit stops (Trail heads) for food, water and restrooms. Very surprised it’s not busier, also kinda glad! More connections to come to other trails will be added bonus.
We rode from Montague to Hart and back. I agree with everyone else-it’s very smooth and easy to ride. I was expecting more fields and views but it’s mostly flanked by big trees on both sides. Since the leaves were starting to change, it was a beautiful ride.
We caught the Lakeshore trail near our hotel, the Shoreline Inn. We rode out to Lake Michigan, did the Beachwood Boardwalk Loop, then rode back and stayed in the trail until we reached the end. We were wishing in continued around the north side of Muskegon Lake too. The trail was in good shape, mostly flat, with lots of great views of both lakes (Muskegon and Michigan), lots of birds and many boats to look at. The only thing we’d do differently if we did it again is we would take a right at the roundabout and ride down by the submarine. Great ride!
Biked the Flat River Trail on a Sunday afternoon in August. We found the Tower Park parking lot easily and with a little search the trailhead across from the parking lot. In short order we were biking along the Flat River and had to watch carefully for the Trail markers. The newly paved sections and the cut off to another trail was a bit confusing but with a brief backtrack we continued on the trail. About two thirds of the way we were a bit confused again as we approached some busy roads just passed the high school. We guessed right and found the tunnel under the busy road and continued on...this led to the surprising portion of the trail....a few hills leading to the trail around Baldwin and Manoka lakes (both very small)....and with a bit of coaching from other bikers we were able to stay with the trail and find the parking lot. It was a short trail but very worthwhile. Beautiful scenery, curves, a few doable hills and a few surprises. Loved itl
The ride from Comstock Park to Rockford and back again last Thursday was positively delightful, including an outstanding lunch, until about the final 500 yards when one of our six-person party collided with a green cement post meant to keep the automated vehicles off the bike path. The post won. Short of publicizing her gruesome photo a day after the accident, the facts are that she suffered a gouge in her forehead (yes, she was wearing a helmet!), two black eyes, scraped upper lip, a torn fingernail and a wrenched knee. After spending a couple of hours waiting in urgent care, she was told she needed to go to the actual ER in order to have x-rays on her head, as is protocol for those with potential concussions on patients over 65. About eight hours later she finally came home.
This all might have been avoided had the posts been painted the usual vibrant yellow or orange color as the green blended into the background of the landscape.
Our group plans to use that same bike path again, but will caution people as we navigate through those posts. Pay attention to the ride and not to the scenery!
My wife and I rode from VanBuren State Park on the VanBuren Spur trail to Locato. It was about 29 miles round trip. The trail was paved to South Haven. We were on town streets for about 1.5 miles then on the other side of So. Haven the trail became the Kal-Haven. The trail was on very hard packed clay. It was mostly shaded and flat. bring what you need. There wasn't any services from So. haven to Locato.
South Haven reminded me of a quaint New England town. There was a lot of activity and a lot of services.
I ride this trail from the ball park to Sand Lake frequently, but no more. When passing thru Rockford, the geese poo makes this beautiful trail unpleasant to ride. And it's not just a little amount. It gets all over your bike and all over you. I'll switch to another trail even if I have to travel to get to it.
Came over from Olivet to ride this trail. It was perfect! We weren’t able to do the whole trail but we thoroughly enjoyed what we did cover. We road into the quaint town of downtown Portland and stopped at the Chocolate Moose for their delicious homemade ice cream!
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