Aspen Park ☼☼☼ Nice intermediate trail in Gaylord.  Lots of little hills, riding through the pines, and chances to get some speed. 

Boyne Highlands ☼☼ Nice intermediate trail system in Harbor Springs.  The trails have a very nice flow to them setting you up for a speedy ride. This is a fairly new and developing trail system that can be accessed via the cross country ski trails or from the chairlift. This system has potential. I managed to find roughly eight miles of singletrack, although I had a guide to help me navigate. This is also a downhill destination.

Burchfield ☼☼ Photos A playground for the locals.  LOTS of opportunities to go fast, hone your skills on the stunts, fall into the Grand River, although I wouldn't recommend it. ;-) 

Churning Rapids ☼☼☼☼ Lots of fun, technical singletrack, smooth doubletrack, an incredible view of Lake Superior from the lookout tower, and Pow Pow:  hilly and banked.  This is a must!  Connects to Maasto Hiihto.

Copper Harbor ☼☼☼☼☼ Photos This trail system will wear you out on the climb, then give you a shot of adrenaline to keep you coming back for more.  Lots of exciting, technical singletrack that will make you beg for more, then make you question your sanity.  New trails are being added.  Updated maps can be picked up at Keweenaw Adventure Company.

Ft Custer ☼☼ Very fast trails with incredible stunts, a log pile as tall as I, lots of sand at the bottom of hills, and a few other whacky things sprinkled in.  A little something for everyone.

Highland ☼☼☼☼ Technical singletrack, challenging climbs, and a three and a half hour workout for some of us.  Rocky, rooty, steep, and not the ideal place for a pinch flat, but hey, it's a challenge, and one well worth the drive.  I highly recommend Loop D - best scenery.

Holdridge ☼☼☼☼☼ Gruber's Grinder.  Together with Meadows and Orchard (the East loop) it is fifteen miles of roots, rocks, hills, and impressive log piles.  I highly recommend Meadows.  North loop is perfect for beginners and a great warm up.  West and Tech loops are technically challenging, fast, fun, hilly, and quite possibly the perfect intermediate loops.  These are the best marked trails I've ridden.  I chose to join the MMBA after seeing what the Holly/Flint chapter had done with these trails.

Maasto Hiihto ☼☼☼ A collection of trails weaving in and out of privately owned land, there is some fun singletrack to be found here.  Connects to Churning Rapids.

McLain State Park ☼☼ This a beginner level trail that dries out quickly making it the perfect trail to ride while waiting for the others to recover from spring thaw.  This park is located on Lake Superior and is a great place to hang out after a ride.

Michigan Tech Trails ☼☼☼☼☼ Photos | New Trail Map The Pilgrim trails (across the road around Dragon loop) are great for beginners and challenging enough to encourage quick skill development. They're fun and fast trails for an easy ride for more advanced riders. Dragon Loop is very challenging - lots of funky little "stunts" here.

Time Trial is a favorite of beginners and advanced riders alike. It is a technical trail perfect for developing skills. Outer Limits (aka Outer Loop -easier) and Twilight Zone (aka Inner Loop - more advanced) are the longest loops that offer lots of downhill. There are some jumps on Outer Loop (go clockwise to hit these right). Of course, of course, what goes down, must climb back up. I've been dooped into climbing these repeatedly because the downhill is so much fun.  Go clockwise on both loops to maximize downhill fun and shorten the ride up the hill.

Hairy Toad and Barking Frog are the rocky, curvy, rooty trails. These are very technical. The bridges on these trails are narrow planks - beginners should be prepared to walk if they brave these trails. They are great fun is you're looking for a technical ride.

The trails are very well maintained and constantly evolving.  These trails offer a lot of variety for all skill levels and is a great place to develop you bike handling skills.  There are even some freeriding opportunities sprinkled in.

NCT - Kipp Rd ☼☼☼☼ I rode a short distance of the North Country Trail from the Kipp Rd trailhead located near Petoskey. This is an intermediate/advanced trail, mostly due to climbing difficulty and descending speeds on the return ride. The soil is soft and sandy, so proper climbing and braking skills are a must! This is a beautiful and humbling section of trail that one must ride with respect.

Pontiac Lake ☼☼☼☼☼ There's not much too say.  This is a wicked awesome trail with some challenging climbs, cool switchbacks, and a lot of fast downhill.  Definitely a top pick if you're in the area.  Intermediate.

Rose Lake ☼☼☼ A couple little loops in a state wildlife area, Rose Lake is known mostly to the locals.  I can't find a map of the trails, most likely because this is not a biking-designated trail.  Bikes are allowed, however.  Please show great respect (and be quiet) to the hikers.  This is a hunting and popular bird-watching spot.  We'd like to continue to see bikes allowed here.

Sleepy Hollow ☼☼☼Eleven miles of flat trail with some hills sprinkled in.  Some call this trail boring, but I still feel it's worth a ride if you're in the area.  For the most part, I enjoyed my ride and will do it again.  Unfortunately, the trails are often muddy and some sections are flooded at times.  A trail crew seriously needs to address this problem.  Lots of potential.  Perfect for beginners after a dry spell.

Beyond Michigan

Colorado
Moab

Red Jacket Cycling Team

Michigan Mountain Biking Association

International Mountain Biking Association

MTB Aside . . .

Estivant Pines

Weather

Battle Creek

Copper Harbor

Highland

Holly

Houghton

Marquette

Copyright ©1997-2007 Diane Ursu