Find the top rated dog walking trails in Traverse City, whether you're looking for an easy short dog walking trail or a long dog walking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a dog walking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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Easy, mostly flat. Stroller friendly. Lovely views of the lake, trees and all kinds of birds and animals.
Great trail. Ridden it several times but earlier this month there was a sign posted "no e-bikes". This was not a hand-made sign - a permanent one Just south of the Petoskey park. We ran into another couple who was forced to turn around and told "ride on the road". We didn't feel like having a confrontation so we just headed back to Charlevoix. I'm not sure I can recommend this area of the trail due to the signage. Otherwise, avoiding this, it is a beautiful and well maintained trail.
Rode this trail above 2 days.Although part of the trail was washed into the Little Traverse bay a detour is provided. This is one of the nicest trails I have ridden in Michigan.
The trail is paved and mostly flat. Lots of trees and birds. The trail is not busy but there are friendly bikers and walkers along the way.
I highly recommend this trail. We broke our tour into two legs. Leg one from Magnus Park to Harbor Springs. Leg two from West End to Charlevoix. Wonderfully maintained, clearly marked, with lots of little detours to the coastline. The only thing we didn’t like was riding along US31 in the bike lane without a physical barrier…but that’s just us. Otherwise a fantastic trail.
Big rapids to Reed city is only good for walking, for biking it is very rough I don't recommend. Starting in Reed City going North is much smoother.
This trail saved my sanity during Covid and I've returned to ride it multiple times. I start at the newly renovated trailhead in Cadillac outside the Depot. Usually ride to Tustin and back. It's a slight downhill grade to Tustin and then uphill going back. Surface varies. Mostly forest but there are small farms and homes to see along the way. I have seen turtles twice on the path. Shoutout to Madeline Krentz for her description of this trail. My husband did have a spill once on roots that had pushed up the asphalt but fortunately no injury.
Drove to Frankfort from Cadillac and parked. Easy to hop on the bike trail. Rode to Beulah for lunch and also explored along Crystal Lake. Beautiful ride. Thank you to Madeline Krentz for the recommend.
Started in Empire and rode a few miles or so past Glen Arbor, where it turned to loose pea stone. Wife wasn’t crazy about that so we turned around. We spotted a porcupine strolling down the trail the first day and a bobcat the second. A truly amazing and beautiful trail!
Very nice for walking and biking. First aprox. 10 miles starting from Frankfort are well maintained and are good for regular bikes. The last half of the trail is only recommendable for mountain bikes.
This is a smooth, curvy, hilly, leafy, over-all splendid trail that is extraordinarily well-maintained and a joy to ride. We rode Class 1 pedal-assist (no throttle) Gazelle e-bikes from the Empire trailhead (new pit toilet at parking lot, no water), just north of Empire, to Glen Arbor, 20.1 miles round trip. The trail continues beyond Glen Arbor. There are some significant uphill stretches (right out of Empire for 2.5 miles) and one major 12% grade long hill. On our e-bikes, these were just fun. The section from Glen Arbor north, which we road on a different trip, is much flatter. The return trip from Glen Arbor to the Empire trailhead is much more downhill, with the exception of the very steep and long (12% grade) hill I mentioned above. Signage on the trail forewarns you about upcoming curves and hills. Be prepared for big winds off the lake--we experienced gusts up to 28 mph.
Leaving from Empire trailhead, the trail goes through densely shaded areas to brilliantly sunny stretches by the Dune Walk and up to Glen Haven, where there are public bathrooms/changing rooms, fresh water, and a stunning beach on Lake Michigan. The path continues through the national park campground and then through a forested area (with signs indicating recent black bear sightings) and then into Glen Arbor. Lots of places to buy lunch in Glen Arbor, although we could find only one public restroom by the Farmer's Market and were not able to find a park with picnic tables. There's an IGA grocery store just as you come into town.
We rode on a Tuesday morning in mid-June and there were only a few other riders on the trail. Highly recommend a stop at Grocer's Daughter Chocolates and Gelato in Empire afterwards--best strawberry rhubarb sorbetto I've ever tasted!
We've ridden more than 75 trails and this is one of our all-time favorites. Next time, we'll ride from beginning to end!
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