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This is really a very nice urban trail, but if you have a choice, you may enjoy it more on a mountain bike or hybrid with shocks since the Lansing segment I did had a rather coarse texture over a majority of the 18 miles I did. I used a single speed track bike with fairly narrow/high pressure tires, which was okay, but I'd use a different bike next time.
The signage for the Lansing segment I rode was quite good, and meandering along the river was very nice. There are a fair number of wooded bridge decks that are fun, but a little bumpy.
The East Lansing segment that runs through the MSU campus and is much smoother, but there only seems to be pavement indicators for the bike lane/trail, and not the signs like they do in Lansing. I was probably not paying attention and meandered away from the trail a few times.
Great trail, but be sure to pick the right bike to do it.
I have been trying to get back into backpacking after a two year hiatus but also something to fight the city blues from being stuck in the concrete jungle. Pigeon River County State Forest did both quite nicely.
Beautiful plants with trees, plenty of distance from any cities or towns, well trod path, great support facilities (water pumps,campsites, etc), friendly people, a truly picturesque stream running through, excellent options on length, good signage.
Two minor complaints. 1) The trail could use a bit more love. There was on section in particular that was pretty over grown with the grasses. I did not have much trouble following the trail but it was almost completely overshadowed by the growth in places. There were also several substantial trees across the path that could do with clearing. 2) Better differentiation between the trails markers would make things much easier. All trails have the same blue triangle that indicates and ski/hiking path but there is more than one trail in the park. Nothing careful map work and a little orienteering can't overcome, but it would be much simpler if at least some sort of color coding was put in place.
Bay County Riverwalk/Rail trail is a well-marked and picturesque trail. It covers a diverse area, going through a residential areas in the city, the woods, the marshes, and the river front. Although it was cloudy and rainy throughout the day, we really enjoyed our ride. We also biked through the 5-mile unpaved loop in the woods. The view from the two wooden observatories located about a mile from one another inside the unpaved loop is priceless. I do not recommend the trail for kids as there were many cross-roads, but it is a perfect and gorgeous trail - rain or shine- for adults.
This has the potential to be a great trail, but as of this writing there are a few problems. It is a new trail having opened just last fall (2016) and has limited amenities so far. I did not see any water along the way and only a couple of places to stop and rest. The only trail head with parking is at the north end in Bay City though there are plans for a southern trail head at the Saginaw end. There are also plans to connect the trail with the Bay City loop trail and with trails in Saginaw.
The trail is flat and runs along the west side of the Saginaw River through woods, marsh and farm fields. In two places bridges cross open water and the views from these bridges are spectacular.
As I road this route I saw numerous wildlife including a few birds I'm not sure I have seen before. Unfortunately you are likely to see way more Canada geese and their leavings than you may want to see. At one point I could imagine how the riders in the Tour de France feel with the crowds pushing in on both sides except this crowd was waddling along and hissing. Aside from the geese you are likely to see quite a few egrets, herons, ducks, deer, etc. I think I may have also seen a couple of Osprey.
My husband and rode this trail for the first time and loved it. It amazes me that people call a trail such as this boring. It is beautiful nature----loved the first part out of the Kalamazoo trailhead---pristine and full of lush trees. We rode 10 miles and turned around and saw rolling landscapes and agriculture. Gentle incline but be prepared that it is a gravel trail. After the first mile it became hardened and easier. Also---keep your heads up for the crossroads. Next time we will start in South Haven. Beautiful and we are very appreciative that we are provided with trails such as this to keep us off the road.
This is nothing more than a wide asphalt sidewalk next to busy noisy highway. Loud motorcycles, trucks, driveways many street crossings. You name it. Houses and front yards, etc. I went about halfway from GH to Holland and just turned back. Don't do with smaller children! This is not "Ottawa county's showpiece".
Very beautiful trail with plenty of benches and an occasional picnic table along the way. Gorgeous bridges, scenic overlooks and railroad informational signs along the way. You won't be disappointed after biking or walking this trail.
I started at a cute park where there was absolutely no signage and followed a trail for almost a mile until it ended at a sidewalk. I asked a neighbor if this was the trail and she said yes. I wound my way through a small town bumping over driveways until I decided to turn back. It's hilly, unmarked and bumpy.
Trail starts at the Cannon Two. office on M44 at Myers Lake Rd. A non-semi ride along M44 for 1/2 mile gets you to a neighborhood where you enter the real trail. From here a pleasant walk or ride through a quiet wooded area of the township. Hilly at times, some steep. Easy to hit 20+ mph on your bike with little effort. Trail takes you to Townsend Park and eventually to the quaint village of Cannonsburg. Avoid the ride along M44 by starting at this end and going north. Can be busy at times but not exceedingly. One of our favorite close-by bike ride and walking trails.
My wife and I visited Battle Creek for the first time solely to ride this trail Sunday. Even after reading some reviews and seeing "poorly marked" noted several times, we decided since it was relatively close to home (75 minutes or so) we'd give it a try. We started at Friendship Park downtown since it looked like it was smack in the middle of the trail, but when we got to the park there wasn't a trail sign or marking to be found, at least that we could see. Most of the downtown area is closed on Sunday, it was like a ghost town at noon. We drove around for 30 minutes following both Google Maps and the map found on this site, and finally figured out where the trail was (we thought). We unloaded and started riding, following what we thought was the Linear Park trail, only find that after a mile or so of turning around and riding in circles, it was not even the actual trail. Once we found the proper path, the ride was choppy in the downtown area... lots of stops for cross streets, still having to stop and check street names and such because the trail was not marked at all in town. Riding out of town we started feeling much better about it. It follows the river for a ways and the scenery is very nice. We got to a sports complex that we vaguely identified on the trail map, saw the dotted line for the trail on the map, but again there were no markings at the outer edge of the park that identified where the trail continued for us to do the entire loop. We ended up doubling back to where we started and then rode out a ways in the other direction. Again, the actual Linear Park trail veered off on a city street to loop around at the other end of town, but there were no signs at all noting that. We ended up continuing for about 3 miles on a trail that connected to someplace else and had no way of knowing how to get back to the Linear Park path without doubling back. So again, we had to double back and try to find where the turn was for the Linear Park loop. Once we found it, we again were happy with the scenery, and the trail goes through the Leila Arboretum which offers some more challenging terrain. But soon after that the trail again goes through residential areas with sidewalks in every direction at the intersections, and very little signage to indicate which direction to go to stay on the actual bike path. It's almost embarrassing to note that the perimeter loop is supposedly 10.5 miles.... with all the doubling back and circling around to try to stay on track, we rode over 25 miles. No, not kidding. No, it wasn't on purpose. No, we're not idiots, either, just determined to find the whole trail. :)
So all in all, it was a disappointment. This "trail" has some great potential, but there are a lot of things working against it, and most of those could be avoided or easily corrected. Here are some of our observations:
1) The trail is badly overgrown in most of the areas outside the downtown area.
2) There is a serious need for more signage and trail markings. Seriously. If you don't know this city, it's nearly impossible to follow the trail at times.
3) The trail crosses several busy roads with no warning signs for cars, no way to signal when you cross. It's like playing Frogger on a Trek hybrid. It's downright dangerous at 2 crossings in particular.
4) When in residential areas with sidewalks in all 4 directions at intersections, your best bet is to follow the sidewalk that is asphalt instead of the lighter colored concrete... most times that's the only indicator of which sidewalk is the actual trail.
5) At a few intersections or other transition areas, look for small, white signs that read "no motor vehicles". Most often that's the only marking for some sort of trail entrance across the street. You can't always see the path itself, so at times these signs (when they actually have them) are the only way you know there is a path across the street.
This city has put a tremendous amount of money in the downtown area. Parks everywhere, a beautiful river walk, seemingly nice restaurants (most were closed... we'd recommend Clara's on the River... very nice after our ride), etc. But once you leave the downtown area, things get pretty run down in a hurry. This could be a great trail and a destination for cyclists... but as it is it will be a one-and-done for us. No reason to ride this one again until they clean it up and get it marked a little better.
Just for note, we aren't trail snobs. We don't expect every trail we ride to be laid out, groomed, and marked perfectly. We ride a lot of rails-to-trails routes and we go looking for trails like this that potentially offer some fun off the bike kicking around in the downtown areas. Unfortunately, Battle Creek is shut down on Sundays (apparently they make extra cereal on Saturdays so the city can close up on Sunday) so we were pretty discouraged.
Ok, so my first go at this trail left me very underwhelmed, mostly because it seems to end in a campground only 4-5 miles out of town. Very short.
But if you're a newbie on the bike or a runner, then this trail is a great place to start. Not extremely hilly, paved nicely from South Haven all the way to the campground, plus you can park and start with views of Lake Michigan!
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