Explore the best rated trails in Pentwater, MI. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Irons Area Tourist Association Snowmobile Trail and Musketawa Trail. With more than 16 trails covering 399 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
I could find neither a recent review, nor anyone who had recently completed this segment, so I decided to bike it myself and report.
This is not paved, and the crushed limestone requires a mountain bike, or fat tires at the least. I used my standard mountain bike and still had considerable fishtailing in areas. Old reviews speak to horse damage; I saw very little evidence of this.
Reed City to Chase is the worst segment, but there is a very nice tavern just south of the trail here that can raise your spirits, and recharge you to keep going west. From Chase the trail is wider, more level, and more amenable to higher speeds. The scenery is primarily US-10 to the north, and tertiary conifer forests to the south, with some stretches completely surrounded by forests.
I saw exactly zero fellow riders or walkers on the trail during my entire foray. Next time I do this route, I would be more comfortable with at least one companion rider.
We were so impressed by this section of trail. It was pretty and clean. The wildflowers and sculptures were delightful too!
63 year old couple. Very smooth trail. Tall trees or orchards are along most of the trail. The variety of trees are labeled so us prairies folks can identify them. There are large oak trees though out the ride. A stop at Country Dairy is a must.
Riverside Park to Belding a little bumpy with debri on trail. Belding to Rockford very bumpy with cracks and root lifts and many dogs and walkers that didn’t respect biker space or passing. Rockford to Sand Lake smooth and few dogs or people so was a great ride!! North of Sand Lake same, could really cruise! Enjoyed distance!
Beautifully paved now the 8 miles from Sand Lake to Howard City. A few scuff marks in the middle from snowmobiles this past winter, but very smooth. Some very gradual ups and downs. Lovely ride today.
This trail is one of the better bikes rides I've ever experienced. Everywhere we turned was a scenic view of Muskegon Lake. Having the Hotel 2 blocks from the trail was definitely a plus.
Definitely going back to the "Deck" beachfront restaurant at Pere Marquette Park.
Trail itself is smooth and easy to use. We rode in the middle of Fall, after wind storm, so trail was leaf and branch covered, still, not hard to ride just a bit..Bumpy.
Hi i I am partially disabled and have to use a electric assist bike to be able to ride. The past few weeks ive been able to go to Rockford and bake While there was some maintenance being done along trail, it was a awesome ride and some beautiful areas to see along the way As you get closer to Rockford is used more by both walkers and bikers Thankful for this trail
Nice ride. Well maintained asphalt trail. Fish hatchery in Paris is worth a visit.
I've now ridden from Cadillac through Tustin, LeRoy, and Ashton to Reed City. Such a delightful trail for road bikes! I especially liked the portions north of Ashton as they were away from the road and more undeveloped (woods, hills, valleys, cool swamps, neat farms) and interesting. The condition of the pavement is very good except for two locations 1) a very short section north of Tustin where some roots are starting to undermine the asphalt, and 2) immediately north of Reed City where there are some cracks across the pavement. Enjoy this treasure of a trail!
I will preface this by saying I am only reviewing the portion of the trail between the Marne endpoint and the long rail trestle just shy of Ravenna, AND I am reviewing this from the standpoint of road cyclists. Rail trails (especially rural ones) are usually very good to great for road cyclists. This is one of the few that I would say to simply not even bother with. It is obvious this trail was put down years ago and then has had little (very little) money spent on maintenance through the years. There are so many trouble spots which were painted so long ago that the paint has now faded and is barely visible. The repairs were never done.
If you have a bike that can absorb a lot (and I mean "A LOT!") of impact without discomfort, this might be OK, IF you are capable of quick reactions and have good riding skills. We traveled an hour to reach this trail via car and it truly was not worth it.
Starting at the trailhead outside of Marne, the parking is plentiful, paved, and quite inviting. There is a larger portable toilet provided, which was well-maintained on this day. The parking leads directly onto the trail without using any roads or connectors, which is good.
The first three miles are truly the worst paved trail we have ever ridden on and we have ridden trails in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Utah, ... We had been told that the pavement was "not the best" but we kinda underestimated just what that meant. By the time those first three miles were finished, my hands and wrists hurt so badly, I needed some ibuprofen, and this has NEVER happened to me in my years of riding. Sadly, I had none with me. There were so many spots where the grass is actually growing up through the pavement right in the middle that it is starting to look like a 2-track. There were several ruts/bumps that were so severe, they could possibly damage a rim if taken at any speed above 10 mph. The worst part is, this section is mostly shady, so your eyes can't pick up on these hazards too well.
The next three miles improved slightly. Not a great trail, but not as dangerous as the first three. This took us to Conklin, which is about one block long. Fortunately, they have a real nice little store there from which you can buy some refreshments or maybe some ibuprofen!
After you leave Conklin and continue on, the trail again gets marginally better. It is beginning to deteriorate, though. There are places where you can see the asphalt is eroding because it hasn't been sealed in so long and the hard surface is becoming almost a gravel. We rode for another five miles or so until we reached the long trestle over Crockery Creek. This is one of the very few sights to see on this trail, but it is a good one. A nice place to simply stop and listen to the rapids beneath you (probably 60 feet down, or so). Nice photo opportunity.
The positives I can give for this trail are (1) they did a great job squaring the crossings to the street (they almost always made sure you were seeing traffic at a 90-degree angle, instead of the actual angle of the trail at the road), and (2) signage was very good (stop signs were well marked and always had the name of the cross-street so you knew exactly where you were on the map).
The good news about the negatives is, these problems are fixable. It simply takes commitment of resources. Some communities do this, some don't. I truly hope that those in control of this trail allocate what is needed to bring this trail up to the standard it could be at. Houses can be run down but have "good bones". This trail has GREAT bones. It could be fabulous. Hopefully, it will be.
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