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Best bike trails


Sailor

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Which are your favorites? Best surfaces? Most scenic? Longest ride without having to ride in the street?

And, most important for an upcoming adventure with friends from Chicago, how do we get from GR to The Big Lake on bicycles? :D

[i'm a newbie when it comes to biking around Grand Rapids, and I made some mistakes reading the Bike GR map, underestimating the critical differences between trails and routes.]

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http://www.accesskent.com/CultureLeisureAn...kent_trails.htm

Kent Trails is the longest stretch of trail that I know about, runs for 15 miles, probaly the best thing you're gonna find in Kent that doesn't require riding on the road, there is another one up twoards Rockford / Comstock Park / Belmont area but I can't seem to find anything on it...

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http://www.accesskent.com/CultureLeisureAn...kent_trails.htm

Kent Trails is the longest stretch of trail that I know about, runs for 15 miles, probaly the best thing you're gonna find in Kent that doesn't require riding on the road, there is another one up twoards Rockford / Comstock Park / Belmont area but I can't seem to find anything on it...

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The White Pine Trail is one of the best. It actually starts out near Leonard/Riverside Park area. Once you get past Fifth Third Park and the industrial area, it gets very scenic. Paved the whole way, with quite an elevation change as you go further North of Belmont, with beautiful views of the Rogue River. You can stop in Rockford for a Dam Dog or hang out by the dam, go shopping, etc.. There's also a park just South of the old rail bridge in Rockford where you can wade in the Rogue River if it's a hot day.

This site has trail maps (although I'm having trouble opening the White Pine Trail link)

http://www.wmtrails.org/2007/trail_maps.php

In fact, I just found that they have this excellent map of all the projects in the works as part of the Fred Meijer Trail Network:

2349907870_393661644e_o.jpg

http://www.wmtrails.org/images/PDFs/WMT&am...%20Brochure.pdf

Wow! If they can raise $90 Million for trails, it seems like expanded mass transit is not out of the question.

One good way to reach Lake Michigan by bike (I've heard) is to take Leonard Street. West of Wilson, it gets pretty rural and has very little traffic. It ends up in Spring Lake.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&....74707&z=11

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I enjoy the shorter, first loop at Bass River quite a bit. It's really flat and fast. It's twisty enough to be fun, but not so twisty that you have to ride slow. The second loop is too twisty and slow and I usually skip it.

My favorite trails are probably at Fort Custer, but it's such a drive I only get down there a couple times a year. Yankee Springs is a good closer alternative. Cannonsburg State Game Area, also known as Egypt Valley, is really close to Grand Rapids, which makes it my most frequently ridden trail. The problem is that everyone else rides it too so it can be busy and some parts are just overly worn and sandy.

When I get up north I usually ride at Boyne Mountain. They've got some great trails back there. Though, with some of the recent golf course and condo building, I think they've lost a good portion of the trail. Still, the downhill portion near the end is just a blast.

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Which are your favorites? Best surfaces? Most scenic? Longest ride without having to ride in the street?

And, most important for an upcoming adventure with friends from Chicago, how do we get from GR to The Big Lake on bicycles? :D

[i'm a newbie when it comes to biking around Grand Rapids, and I made some mistakes reading the Bike GR map, underestimating the critical differences between trails and routes.]

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For a good ride from GR to the lake take Leonard. Much nicer than Lake Michigan Drive. It will bring you into Spring Lake then take 105 through town. If you cross the street before you get to 31 there is a path that will take you across the drawbridge into Grand Haven without having to ride on US 31.
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  • 4 weeks later...

So - the third phase of the trail here in Greenville was just put in last winter - and I finally walked down it today. I wasn't that impressed - honestly it is sort of in the dumpy part in town so you see people's backyards with garbage all over the place - I am most certain that the city is going to be taking some steps to make sure that it's clean. There's no landscaping really in this area yet - it's mostly natural plantings from along the river.

But I did notice something today - we did get some heavy rain the last week or so ago - and some of the retaining walls that were built collapsed right next to the bridge on m-91 and the flat river. And there's also a section that sticks out sort of a fishing ladder - and the sand is completely eroded underneath it - looks like it's going to cave in.

You can tell that as a result a lot of rocks have been placed near these damaged structures to help with water runoff...but it seems like someone didn't do some proper engineering with this one. All in all - it's still a pretty nice trail...but by far the other sections in town are much more beautiful visibly.

I'm going to take my camera on my next walk and snap some pics.

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I look forward to seeing the pics! If the trail rolls through people's back yards, I wonder if dogs will be a problem?

I got my bike out earlier in the week and went for a ride, but where I live is not the best for leisure riding -- it's more like kamikaze riding.

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I look forward to seeing the pics! If the trail rolls through people's back yards, I wonder if dogs will be a problem?

I got my bike out earlier in the week and went for a ride, but where I live is not the best for leisure riding -- it's more like kamikaze riding.

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Alright - I didn't manage to get out on the trail the day I wanted to - but I just came back and took some pictures. I'd have to say that it did look a little better this time around because of all the leaves that were growing on the trees - so it's a little more lush - but you'll still see what I mean by some of the blight that surrounds some of the trail.

First I want to show you an aerial map of what the trail looks like (this is to the best of my knowledge but i can't guarantee accuracy on the unfinished parts)

trailmap.jpg

Pink Line - Finished Trail

Yellow Line - Unfinished (to be built in the next couple years)

White Line - Where I walked today (part of the latest phase recently built)

And here's the photos:

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This is the wall that collapsed from the rain that I was telling you about in earlier posts:

2446250686_5a67fc2d5a.jpg

Hansen Park (Looking at M-91 Bridge)

2446250168_56e08aae72.jpg

This is the dumpy part I was telling you about:

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2446248572_5df21493dd.jpg

Other Random Shots:

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They just fixed this - but there was a sinkhole here and it was asphalt and the sand eroded underneath the concrete structure:

2446247708_238083cd87.jpg

Electrolux (or what was) is now completely torn down - they left one building up for sale that you can still see - but still not as ugly. Residential and parks will take over the river front in a few years:

2446247204_8181157f78_b.jpg

Random shots again:

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This is right in front of my house which is the nicer side:

2445419281_811f6f1bb7_b.jpg

I'm hoping in the next couple of days to go through the other 2 phases and will snap some more photos for you all to see :)

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Belding is doing a similar thing here with river trail - but now that the old railroad is going to be replaced with a new segment of meijer heart trail which will use existing rail line from greenville to lowell - Belding will be suited up for good trail use.

Same color code map:

Pink - Finished

Yellow - Unfinished

Red - Meijer Trail Segment (if completed)

beldingtrailmap.jpg

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