Northern: Other trails

[volklgirl]

There is a 3 mile loop, a 10 mile loop, and a 13ish mile loop. For the 3 mile, just make a left at marker 3, following the sign for Kinglet Trail back to the parking lot.

[Jayers]

And clever use of Perch Lake rd, the VASA ski trail, and the double track can produce other loops. Or, like me, take wrong turns on said shortcuts and end up taking even longer. It's like Stony, but five times bigger!

I stayed at Timberridge and rode four days in a row on the VASA singletrack. It was nice riding right from my campsite, right through the woods to the trialhead. Great trail, with beautiful scenery, nice and flowy. Next year I need to learn some of the unmarked trails. Kudos to the trail managers.

[WICCMB]

The trail is in great shape. The Thunder Bay Trails Alliance crew prepped it nicely for the race today (thank you) including raking all of the deadfall off of the tread! The course is fun, as usual. Hopefully this afternoons rain firmed up a couple of the sandy spots, but none of them were very big. This trail is a Gem!!

[volklgirl]

The work out at Cadillac Pathways is moving along. The only things left for this year are the final clearing of the alternate route at 8, and the reroute/trail closure on the bottom half of the downhill coming into 6 from 5. The full report and pics can be found here: http://www.mmba.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=99253

Next year's projects will include a reroute around the sand pit at 3, headed to 4, among other things. If you have additional suggestions, please let me know.

[detroitjohnny]

no riding anytime soon for the VASA singletrack. Snow is down quite a bit, but there's still a good 6".

[freeheal2005]

gonna be north this weekend. anyone know if vasa single track is snow free and rideable yet?

[kalkaskawinterfest]

Not yet

[kalkaskawinterfest]

Mostly back road rambling right now. A small amount of single track is open seems like closer to the river the more clear it is. Its been mid to upper 30s and sunny today. Group ride tomorrow night in Kalkaska hope to get a little deeper in to the woods, will have to see. Right now its just been hit and miss

[detroitjohnny]

gonna be north this weekend. anyone know if vasa single track is snow free and rideable yet?

Not even close. It will be at least a week from now IF we get some warm days and a day or two of rain. Yesterday morning there was 4-5 inches of snow still at the VASA singletrack trailhead.

Johnny

[freeheal2005]

cool. thanks for the info. may just bring the road bike

[detroitjohnny]

VASA singletrack is ready to ride. Other than 2 or 3 trees that are too large to move it is clear and ready to go. Get on out and ride!!

[bellancal]

Hi all,

I was lookingto plan a trip and do the Black Mountain trails in the next month. Can anyone give an update on these trails? Is there a map available anywhere? Also, the tc email does not seem to be valid anymore. Thanks.

[girl chaser]

Bellancal:
I know every inch of that trail.
We have a cottage on Black Lake and have had the use of the trais on Black Mountain essentially to ourselves for many years. 30+ miles of trails, lots of good climbing, many ride options and beautiful forrests. We rarely see anyone on the trail. Sound too good to be true? It is becomming so.
Lately, local horseback riders have discovered the trails and use a portion of the main loops regularly. With all the sand up there, they really screw things up. Some days, the hoof marks are so bad it feel like riding down long flights of stairs on a rigid frame.
There has also been some logging activity in the last year and it is continuing this Spring. There are huge ruts in those areas from the skidders.
Needless to say, what was, until recently, our perfect trail system, is now more a matter of heading out there to see what is rideable. That said, it still is fun and a majority of the trail is still good.
There shold be a map on the Black Mountain trail guide site. I would be happy to suggest loops and "secret spots" to avoid the above problems. Also, my wife and I are up there most weekends in the summer and could give you a tour if you are up when we are.

[djansen00]

I'm going to be up in the Gaylord area all next week and want to finally try the North Country Pathway. It's a shame, I grew up in Gaylord and still haven't done this yet. Any way, I'll have mostly just evenings free...so a few hours available for riding. What's a good option for me if I have 2-3 hours to check it out? I may have an entire afternoon/evening one day but not sure yet.

[slickroper]

Dave,

Shingle Mill fits your criteria exactly. I would strongly recommend you check out that loop. It's a bit east of Vanderbilt so it's close and accessible. Fun trail with a short and longer loop options. Really fun wood plank path over the swamp near the end. Be careful because it can get slippery.

Happy riding!

[url]http://mmba.org/index.php?option=com_trailguide&task=trail&cid[]=54[/url]