Find the top rated mountain biking trails in Ionia, 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 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...
Fred Meijer White Pine Trail State Park makes tracks from a bustling Grand Rapids community to the forests, farmlands, and friendly towns of Northern Lower Michigan. At nearly 93 miles, it is the...
The Upper Macatawa Trail is sited within the stunning natural area of the same name, in Zeeland, Michigan. The trail runs 2.8 miles and offers a sensory as it passes through hardwood forest, verdant...
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 Musketawa Trail is one of the best places to get away from it all if you live and work in the western Michigan population centers of Muskegon or Grand Rapids. The 25-mile paved rail-trail rolls...
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 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...
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 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...
Fred Meijer White Pine Trail State Park makes tracks from a bustling Grand Rapids community to the forests, farmlands, and friendly towns of Northern Lower Michigan. At nearly 93 miles, it is the...
The Musketawa Trail is one of the best places to get away from it all if you live and work in the western Michigan population centers of Muskegon or Grand Rapids. The 25-mile paved rail-trail rolls...
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...
The Upper Macatawa Trail is sited within the stunning natural area of the same name, in Zeeland, Michigan. The trail runs 2.8 miles and offers a sensory as it passes through hardwood forest, verdant...
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...
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 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...
The Musketawa Trail is one of the best places to get away from it all if you live and work in the western Michigan population centers of Muskegon or Grand Rapids. The 25-mile paved rail-trail rolls...
The Upper Macatawa Trail is sited within the stunning natural area of the same name, in Zeeland, Michigan. The trail runs 2.8 miles and offers a sensory as it passes through hardwood forest, verdant...
Fred Meijer White Pine Trail State Park makes tracks from a bustling Grand Rapids community to the forests, farmlands, and friendly towns of Northern Lower Michigan. At nearly 93 miles, it is the...
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 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.
Starting from M-10 intersection north for about 3 miles, the trail has been paved with asphalt. As of yesterday (8/5/2018) it is still closed, but it's certainly ride-able, so I would think it will be open soon.
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.
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 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 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.
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.
I found the trail just wandering around my mom's neighborhood. There is a nice, flat concrete path that is shaded and quiet. What's really cool though are the many dirt/sand trails that snake through the forest, mostly next to the creek. There must be a few miles, bc I haven't seen all of them yet.
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.
This was my first time riding this trail and boy am I glad I got the hardier frame and wider tires on the bike I just bought! This trail takes you through some of the most majestic views of Calhoun County/Battle Creek. I was humbled by how remote it all felt, as I know this is a slice between a hustle and bustle of manufacturing and residential areas. But there is so much more unadulterated land in the in-between to make you feel secluded and connected back to nature.
The trail was a bit rough maybe only 7% of the time, but I do caution not to go too fast on this trail as the pebbles and silt can make you wipe out. There are also many blind curves.
Overall, it is an excellent workout and a majestic area of land for scenery, highlighting much of what makes Michigan just so amazing.
I grew up in BC and NEVER went on this trail til now in my mid 30s. I have lived so many other places across the country and now I bring my bike home to explore. Battle Creek and Calhoun County are BLESSED to have the trails they do, and at the great expanse that they are!
I only passed 3 people on my trip today on this trail, but the trail itself looked as though and was heavily evidenced as though it is being taken care of on a regular basis.
Magical! Amazing!
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