Find the top rated birding trails in Jackson, 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.
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As others have said, this flat 16 miles is great for a leisurely ride or to work towards getting back in shape. We saw about 20 kids and adults walking and biking on a June Tuesday morning. Lots of shade. The northern 3/4 mile section needs crack filling soon; vegetation is growing in them and will cause more damage.
I am grateful for beautiful trails like this and the organizations that provide benches and gazebos along the way for the public to use.
This is a very nice trail for walkers and scenery, 4 miles one-way, and includes nice beach access with a large grassy area and wide beach, plenty of parking.
The trail connects to Kensington Metropark's paved trail (9 mile circle) so one can have an extended ride - however - Island Lake's trail is much like Michigan roads: bumpy, hole-y, poor condition. Recently a small section was repaved through the pine trees (beautiful portion of ride, nice smells!) but the rest of the trail just beats up the bike (IMO).
Lots of road bikers just ride the main road instead which is much, much smoother than the trail and most of the cars are respectful of bikers. (put lights on your bike!)
There is a dirt path off the paved trail that goes down to Trout Lake (not the main lake at the beach) which is rather sandy but a nice challenge to ride around the lake. This lake is where a lot of beachgoers walk to for more privacy in little beaches scattered around the lake. Plus, the water is very clear.
There are plans for the trail to be extended through the entire park to meet up with the Lakeland Trail, which current ends at US23/M36 but will be extended along US 23 (under the bridge at Silver Lake) to meet up with the paved trail on the east side of US23 that goes to the Green Oak Mall behind JCPenny where many bikers park and ride into Island Lake.
When the connection is made, the entire Lakeland Trail (western end at Munith) will then connect to all the trail that go all the way to Port Huron.
Pretty much like what other reviews are showing... not maintained whatsoever!! Was much worse through the Jonesville portion of the ride. Maybe most frustrating was how poorly the route was marked out. With a little work it could be a nice bike ride route. It passes right by a couple of places that serve food and drinks, seems these businesses would try to take advantage of this and do something to draw people in
This trail is a short distance from my home. Traveled it for almost 20 years. Badly needs resurfacing. I hope they don’t just let it go. Still able to ride just painful on the spine when you hit those “speed bumps” every few yards. Love the nice little connector from the path to Kibby rd. Not sure what they named that little section.
I’ve been riding & walking this trail for years. (Even before it was paved) Well maintained with benches & trash cans. It’s pretty flat making for a fast ride.
We parked in the middle and rode to the Jackson West end and had an amazing view of the water. Trail is well maintained and wide enough to pass.
For those heading east from Ann Arbor, this map and local b2b marker for the area around ypsi and emu is poorly mapped and labeled. When you pass the emu stadium, map to frog island park and go through the emu camps.
Today I rode from the Hawkins Rd parking lot (put 5998 Hawkins Rd, Jackson into your GPS to find it) to Stockbridge and back. What a great ride! About 24 miles round trip. There is a vault toilet (clean) in Stockbridge and a porta-potty at Hawkins Rd. Just picnic tables in Munith. This portion of the trail is crushed limestone, but it is well-packed for easy pedaling.
I did some of this trail yesterday 4/14/21. The trail could be beautiful if it wasn’t so beat up in spots. Huge pot holes and construction with access bridge closed and detours that takes you on busy streets!
This is a nice, short connector trail between the Village of Milford and Kensington Metropark. Paved and smooth the entire way. The construction from last summer is long finished now and the trail has been restored. This trail is fairly hilly along its entire route. It will give you a pretty good workout, but at the Kensington end, you can reward yourself with a stop at the Dairy Queen! The entire route is very scenic with markers every half mile. It is mostly wooded, and passes over a dam, near a fenced dog park, and through the equestrian staging area at Kensington. Only one major road crossing. Wildlife spotting is common (deer, turkeys, hawks), especially through the Kensington portion.
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