Find the top rated birding trails in Northview, 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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We did about 20 miles and it was very nice some parts have heavy traffic but most is separate and nice. Would do it again for sure!
The Riverwalk trail connects several parks along the Muskegon river in Big Rapids. It has 3 connector trails to the White Pines rail trail.
A small section under the M-20 bridge is not paved, but everything north is smooth and scenic. Any of the parks make nice trail head parking with amenities to access the White Pines trail which is paved from Big Rapids north to Reed City.
The new southern extension has made this into one of my favorite trails. The paved surface is near perfect and it is lightly traveled, in contrast to the White Pine Trail which runs parallel to the east. You can now ride from downtown Muskegon all the way to Hart on paved trails off the roadways. This portion is remote and very quiet with only a few houses in the distance.
The northern extension (White Lake Pathway) into Whitehall and the southern extension into North Muskegon are very scenic, curvy and shady. This is a family friendly trail crossing only 3 busy roads. During the summer in the afternoons and evenings the "Shivering Timbers" roller coaster at Michigan's Adventure comes within a few yards of the trail and provides a welcome distraction for kids on the otherwise long boring straight stretch. Early and late in the day even this central portion of the trail is somewhat shaded.
The down side of the remoteness of this trail is the total lack of signage, mile markers, access to water, or toilets. The very bicycle friendly First Evangelical Lutheran Church or the fast food place south of it are the last potential pit stops on the south end. The White Lake Public Library is a perfect pit stop on the White Lake Pathway northern extension but easy to miss in the woods--there is a short paved spur going off near the 2 boardwalk sections.
Rode 50 mile on the Fred Meijer Clinton-Ionia-Shiawassee Trail. I started in Ovid and turned around in Pewamo. The trail had about 1-2 miles paved through Ovid, St. John, Fowler, and Pewamo the remained of the trail was gravel, crushed lime stone. The trail condition was good and overall smooth without a lot of pot holes and ruts. Even with the overall good condition of the trail the 40 plus miles of gravel was pretty punishing by the end of the ride. One small area outside of Ovid appeared to have very little gravel coverage and may present a problem when wet...potential muddy area. The weather was great for a ride the scenery was great the trail was pretty much through farm lands lots of fields of corn and wheat with old barns and farm houses along the way. My bike was a gravel bike with 38mm tires.
For full disclosure, I'm the VP for the Friends of the Kal-Haven Trail so my review will be a tad biased. But I'm a generally honest guy. Promise.
I've been on this trail from end to end multiple times and it never gets boring. And while some have complained about the surface being rutted or pot-holed, now that the MDNR has taken control of maintenance, they've got a person dedicated to maintaining the trail for its length in Van Buren County. The Kalamazoo Parks Department maintains the trail in Kalamazoo County.
Still, running through the countryside, Amish farms, orchards and small towns in southwest Michigan and almost always under the shade of trees, the Kal-Haven is a nice respite on hot summer days. And come winter, it's a snowmoblie haven.
With the introduction this year of Michigan's first Heritage Trail project led by Dan Spegel of the Michigan History Center, the Kal-Haven offers more than just a tree-covered 34 mile run/ride from Kalamazoo to South Haven and Lake Michigan. Now the history of 'what once was' and the geology and weather of the corridor will come alive. Mentha, Columbia, Williams, Kibbie and other now vanished towns will have a chance to live again.
This project, the first of its kind in Michigan, should be fully installed by August and comes with a mobile app for the visually impaired that will read to you each of the ~30 panels as you come upon them.
Near the 10th Street (Kalamazoo) trail head there's an active native wildflower restoration project under the care of our master gardener, Sue Hodapp. Upgrades for this year will include all new signage including the native names of many of the plants along the way.
We're also proud to be the first leg and Route #1 of Michigan's first Great Lake To Lake trail that will run from South Haven to Port Huron, some 250 miles, with an inaugural ride planned for September 13, 2019.
We're currently in the engineering phase of resurfacing the trail from Bloomingdale to South Haven but we need to find the near $1 million it will cost to do the actual work. The caboose at the depot in Bloomingdale is slated for refurbishment and an interactive exhibit exists 1/4 mile east of Mentha where you can taste some of the actual mint that AM Todd grew on these 2000 acres of mucklands at the beginning of the 20th century.
Visit us at kalhaven.org or on social media.
Trail is currently flooded in several areas. Can navigate through town but definitely not as pretty.
The trail is a bit bumpy and wet at places but the rural ride is peaceful and the farm scenery is enjoyable. Lots of rabbits and chipmunks.
While it's a nice, if not scenic trail, it is in need of pot hole filling. I must have hit 25 of the 40 or 50 chuck holes. The State of Michigan needs to do a better job maintaining the surface. The Fred Meijer trails are in much better condition.
The trail is easy to access and has plenty of restrooms and places to get water and food. However it is very rough at the Alma end for at least the first 10 miles. Lots of root bumps, so much so that we got off the trail after only 10 miles and took the roads back. We had planned a much longer ride but it just wasn't any fun.
I rode this trail on a Saturday morning in June 2019.
This is possibly the prettiest rail trail ride in Michigan. I started from the Montague trail head and road to Hart and back, passing through several small and friendly communities along the way. The trail is in fantastic shape. It wanders through miles of scenic views, fruit orchards and asparagus fields. There are picnic tables or benches just about every mile. A really pleasant experience.
Hart is a bit higher in elevation so if you plan to do the entire distance there-n-back, I suggest starting in Montague.
We live a block off Kent Trails and reading the reviews here can be confusing...The trail begins off Butterworth Rd in Grand Rapids near John Ball Zoo. The other end of the trail is on 84th Street in Byron Center, MI.
To get from one end ot the other you have to leave the trail for city streets for a few block with limited signage to connect the two paved path sections.
The path is paved the entire portion and in good shape. There are a few busy steets to be crossed so need caution if biking with children or inattentive adults. Great trail if you are patient with the lack of signage.
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