Northern: Midland City Forest

[Todd Scott]

Post trail conditions and problem reports for the trails at the Midland City Forest

[One Old Mongoose]

Rode it today (Sunday, April Eighteen), and seems to be in pretty good shape. Got some thunderstorms Saturday and Sunday morning, some of low lying areas were a little wet in places, but overall seems to be in pretty good shape.

Didn't have time to ride it all, unfortunately, I ran out of sunlight. Got as far as the entry into the south loop (not too far, I know, I had to ride home). Hopefully next weekend I'll manage to get back out and ride it all.

[michiganrider]

Stay off of MCF for now. It's in really rough shape. It's not much more than a mud pit. I went through mud up to my rotors today. Parts of the trail are roped off. There are several re-routes but you can't avoid the mud. It's deep and goes on and on and on....

[michiganrider]

Rode MCF Friday evening and it is really starting to dry out. There were about 3-4 places with standing water and probably twice that many that were "soft" but rideable. I didn't ride the gnu loop so don't know it that's as dry or not. My guess is "not." If we're dry for another week, the whole thing will probably be o.k. In the meantime, if you want to go there, bring a shovel and a rake and smooth out some of the ruts. They're starting to turn into concretions as they dry out.

Watch out for the mosquitos. If you stop for more than a few seconds, be prepared to donate a pint or so to nature.

[BooBoo]

Was there yesterday. The first mile is so awful, that we bailed. There's huge muck bogs, at least 2" - 3" deep, deeper in some spots. The trail is getting wider due to people trying to avoid the mud. Maybe by fall...

[DF Bernard]

Midland City Forest is in GREAT shape now. Each section of singletrack - North Loop, South Loop, and Gnu Loope - is in fantastic condition.

If you're from out of town and looking for a great trail to ride, let me know and I'll me you out there.

[Kane]

I finally made it out to ride the Midland trail around dusk tonight. It is in great shape, all sections were dry. There were more exposed roots than I care to bounce across, but I'm not complaining. I was surprised by how technical it is...I actually found it kind of challenging. Almost dumped it in the creek at one point....and the twisting plank bridge is pretty cool too.
I'll definitely go back.

[xtremejwalker]

I went riding at the Midland City Forest for the first time last week. Good course with a lot of obsticles and well maintained single-track. The majority of the trails are dry but there are patches of hard-packed snow/ice from winter activities and also the northern part of the GNU loop is completely unridable, completely submerged in swamp. I had to back track and hit up on of the wider trails to catch the south loop. All in all, Im pretty impressed by the course. Oh, on a safety note, be careful coming down the south loop while going up and down the bank along the stream. The way down may be a little steep and riddled with roots and a lot of speed is needed to get back up the enbankment, so heads up.

[Sixty-Six]

Hit the Outer Rim of MCF Saturday, maybe six miles. (N/NW North Loop, over West Bridge then SW/S South Loop over to East Gnu, to N South Loop across East Bridge back to Monroe Pkg Lot). First time at MCF. The trails we hit were in great condition with exception of mogul ruts in Gnu trails being muddy. I don't know about the 'interior' trails though, or the very northern tip of Gnu... ran out of time.

Ride on!

[Creamy]

Was on a tour de michigan last weekend and hitting downstate trails stopped by this gem in the city on my way back on Sunday and was pretty blown away! Wasnt expecting much when I first rode in but wow what fun! did all the loops, and some sections twice! loved the bridge!
A little muddy in spots, probably due to snow melt and had to walk the bike a few times but no bother, met 'Dan' & some other very nice locals when ride was done... highly unexpected & highly recommended if youre in the area.

[dirtpo]

In spite of the snow, we had a great turnout for the work party yesterday. About 10 adults and an equal number of Boy Scouts placed about 144 linear feet of minibridges and hauled tons of gravel, one wheelbarrow load at a time, to the muddy patches on the northbound Gnu loop and and the dismal swamp section of the south loop. We also placed a 20' teeter-totter near the south extreme of the south loop. When this #&*! snow melts, the trail will be in great shape.

BTW the minibridges are decked with rough-sawn 2x6's from the saw mill of an Amishman near Gladwin named Enos Bontrager. He was pretty entertained to learn the significance of his name for mountain bikers

Jim Crissman

[dirtpo]

We had a second work party on May 1st, placing another 85 ft of minibridges (total about 225 ft new this spring) and moving several more tons of gravel to the mud holes. Racers this Saturday should encounter no mud at all and will see sections of the trail that were unused last year because of the 9" of rain that fell in the 2 weeks prior to that memorable race. I think you'll enjoy the new teeter-totter at the south end of the south loop . If you haven't ridden it since last year's mudfest, I promise that it will look like an entirely different trail this year.

[DF Bernard]

Kudos to Jim Crissman and his entire crew for the work done on the Midland City Forest mountain bike singletrack this spring. This great trail is now even better, thanks to all the mini-bridges and the gravel hauled in. Last year, even during the summer months, there seemed to always be places that were filled with thick, tire-sucking sludge. Those places now have a cool little mini-bridge to ride over, or are shored up with gravel. The placement of some of the bridges add to the technical difficulty of the ride as well - an added bonus!

In addition, the teeter-totter is very cool! Take the advice of the signs, however, and only ride one at a time on the teeter-totter! A guy I was riding with the other night was right up on me, thought it was just another bridge, and rode onto it with me. As he is a bit heavier than me, it was quite interesting when I got to the end and was still suspended well off the ground. Somehow managed to land my exit, however!

Thanks again, Jim! Great work!

Daryl

[Steve Rosenberg]

Rode North, South and Gnu loops. All in excellent condition. Only one area on South loop that was signficantly muddy (but ridable). Otherwise, only small, easy to ride through, patches of mud.

I find that course conditions tend to parallel the water levels in the wetland below the Boy Scout bridge on the Gnu loop. Only dry marshland at the moment, consistent with an almost completely dry course.

Did see a first today - three female riders without helmets.

Steve Rosenberg

[dirtpo]

I know the one spot on the South loop that Steve is talking about. We have consciously not bridged or graveled that section because there is a pretty good alternate route. Just before entering that particularly dismal section of the dismal swamp, there is a tree with a pink surveyor ribbon on it. Take the right fork there and miss all that mud entirely. One of these days I'll get around to putting a sign there, but it hasn't happened yet. Efforts to block that and other sections of the trail to get people to go a drier way have generally been futile since the muddy ways are straighter But, if you take the alternate route, there has been NO mud on the trail since a day or two after the last big rain