Sunday, November 18, 2007

MI High School Cross Country Courses

This is a little bit of a long-term project, but many local high schools post maps of cross-country running courses at various parks. These can sometimes contain valuable hiking information. I will post them here as I find them.

Kensington Metropark (Oakland):
http://pioneercrosscountry.com///Maps/KensingtonCourse.pdf
Springfield Oaks County Park (Davisburg):
http://pioneercrosscountry.com///Maps/HollyInvitational.pdf
Hudson Mills Metropark:
http://pioneercrosscountry.com///Maps/HudsonMillsCourse.pdf
Ella Sharp Park (Jackson):
http://pioneercrosscountry.com///Maps/Jackson_Course.pdf
West Middle School (Portage):
http://pioneercrosscountry.com///Maps/PortageCourseMap.pdf
Hudson Mills Metropark:
http://pioneercrosscountry.com///Maps/GabrielRichardCourse.jpg
Saline Millpond Course:
http://pioneercrosscountry.com///Maps/Saline_Mill_Pond_Course.pdf
Willow Metropark:
http://pioneercrosscountry.com///Maps/WillowCourse.pdf
Oxford Hills Golf Club:
http://pioneercrosscountry.com///Maps/Oxford_Course.pdf
Fish Creek Sportsman's Club (Carson City):
http://pioneercrosscountry.com///Maps/CarsonCity2007Course.gif
Rolling Hills County Park (Washtenaw):
http://pioneercrosscountry.com///Maps/RollingHillsCourse.jpg

Monday, November 5, 2007

Island Lake State Recreation Area: Hike Reports

07/20/04

I would also try to push the envelope a bit in terms of camping areas in state parks and other similar areas. For instance, you could rent the cabins at Island Lake SRA and put up a tent outside the building. Or you could carry in a canoe to the canoe campground at Island Lake, leave it there during the day, head to the other end of the park, hike to the canoe only campground, canoe during the evening then hike back out.

07/20/04

Livingston County: Island Lake Recreation Area: By combining the Yellow and Blue loop trails, you can hike for 14 miles without backtracking. The terrain is flat to gently rolling with some hills . The trail surface is natural. The highlight of this hike is the meandering, undeveloped Huron River. Be aware, however, that this is a popular mountain biking area. Contact info.: Island Lake Rec. Area, (810) 229-7067. By the end of 2001, it will be possible to extend this hike into the paved Kensington Metropark trails to the north - adding another 8+ miles. No camping.

07/16/01:

I just hiked the east loop of Island lake Rec. Area with some friends. It's 6 miles and can be 14 if you hike a second loop. I think it would make a nice urban backpack. But you'd have to reserve the frontier cabins. I was also thinking it might be possible to bushwack to the canoe campgrounds - two seven mile days.

04/01/02

Hey guys. I did a little afternoon hiking at Island Lake today and checked out the canoe camps. There are two really nice sites right on the Huron River. There is a well-maintained outhouse, several benches and an unusable water pump. It would be a great place to camp.

There is a small two-track that leads out to the main park road. If you cross the road and enter the parking lot, there is another two track that intersects with the West Loop hiking/mountain bike trail. The trail crosses underneath a railroad bridge and hikers might be tempted to just follow the Huron River into camp, but this is not advisable. The terrain is swampy and difficult. Better to take the two track. So, everything is there for a nice 20 mile overnight backpack. Great trail. Great campsites.

ONE BIG PROBLEM. I asked the park staff if I could backpack into the campground and two different rangers said no. The park rules only allow canoeists to use the campsites. So, I guess it depends whether you want to lug a canoe in for show. Or take your chances. It seems like you'd stand a fair chance of being found out. This is a reason why we need a hiker advocacy group in SE Michigan.

Other options: Chaperone a group of kids backpacking to the organization camp. Or, get one of the rustic cabins on the West side of the park.

04/03/02

Hi Joe!

Your point is a good one, although there are a number of canoe camps along the Huron River in the metroparks. There is one backpacker camp in southeast Michigan. So, if you are totalling the numbers, the need for backpack camps is greater.

And guess how many canoeists were using the camp when I was there? Zero. It seems to me that a hiking group could push to get the camp opened to backpack use during the offseason or when canoeists hadn't reserved it.

Overall, the place seems well-run. So, I'll defer to the people who manage the place. But it does seem funny that an unused existing facility would be banned when there is such a need.

04/21/02

Saturday, I hiked the West/Blue Loop at Island Lake SRA in the suburbs. There were houses and a railroad along the tracks for a bit, but this was a nice 9.2 mile hike. The first 5 miles are pretty flat, but there are a few hills in the second half. There weren't too many bikers out there this early in the spring and they didn't seem to get on the trail until after noon. So, morning hiking would probably be okay. This is well-marked trail. I like a little more uncertainty. Nothing like having to guess which way to go. But, I got my first slight sunburn. Sunblock season has arrived.

http://www.michigandnr.com/parksandtrails/ParksandTrailsInfo.aspx?id=462

Dansville State Game Area: Hike Reports

Dansville State Game Area is to the southeast of Lansing, MI. These hike reports were originally posted on the Great Lakes Hike yahoo group:

04/03/02

I got out for a few miles this evening in the Dansville SGA - maps on DNR web site. The place is just north of the Ingham/Jackson County line. The simplest way is to take US-127 to M-36 East. Turn right on Meridian Rd. Once you hit Dexter Trail, you start getting into the SGA.

The trails I hiked were old two tracks. While not at all rugged, they were very pleasant to hike on. There were some very nice pine forests and the terrain was flat to slightly rolling. It looks to me like it might be possible to get a nice long - 6 to 8 or more mile -hike in there. The best part was Hewes Lake, a nice, unspoiled southern Michigan lake. I got there just before sunset as the reds and oranges fired across the water. As I returned to my car, friendly flakes of snow danced about the sky. Not a bad way to end the day.

04/21/02

Friday night, I bisected Dansville State Game Area in southern Ingham County. There is continuous trail from the work station on Dexter Trail to down to Ewers Rd. That's about two miles one way, so four miles total. The place has a few hills and is really swampy. I wish I had a camera to show the three makeshift bridges over some streams in the southern portions of my route. Yikes. But I didn't slip. Oh, and the bugs! Got my first bug bites of the year. I'm working on finding a circle route or extended point to point in this place. I'll post more as I learn the area.

http://www.michigandnr.com/publications/pdfs/huntingwildlifehabitat/sga/dansville.pdf

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Sleepy Hollow State Park: Hike Reports

05/26/03

Hello again!

My second hike today was in the Sleepy Hollow SP north of Lansing. I've never been here before, so I decided to go whole hog and loop the lake. It ended up being 9 or 10 miles and was way cool. There is a surprising amount of terrain in the southern portions of the park and you get some nice views of marsh and lake. The eastern side trails between the campgrounds and lake are not really nice, but I was ready to get back to my car. I saw three mountain bikers, two hikers and several fishermen on my hike. Some of the intersection markings are not good. That said, it is hard to get lost. In fact the West Side trails are in a narrow section of public land between road and lake. It's proof that a nice trail can exist on a small corridor of land.

The highlight of the day was a small log crossing over a branch of the Maple River on the NW corner of Lake Ovid. A mountain biker who I stopped to compare notes with checked out the trail ahead on his bike and came back to tell me about the lack of bridge. I responded by saying, "Great. Now I have something to look forward to." With the help of a branch, I was able to schlepp across without much trouble.

07/19/04

Also, regular state parks can be "backpacked" using existing developed campgrounds. Sleepy Hollow State Park would be a good example of this possibility. It might not be wilderness, but that's not why people live in Lansing anyway.

http://www.michigandnr.com/parksandtrails/ParksandTrailsInfo.aspx?id=495

Stinchfield Woods: Hike Reports

02/11/01:

And, while I'm at it, has anyone ever hiked east out of Pinckney SRA on the Losee Lake trail through Stinchfield Woods (U of M property) and into Hudson Mills Metropark? I think it's all contiguous public land. I just ask, because they're planning to get rid of the dam in Dexter and build a trail on the old river bottom. It could add an extra day of hiking to the Waterloo-Pinckney trail.

02/14/01:

I was asking because you can start at Portage Lake in Waterloo Rec. Area. The start of the Losee Lake Trail is next to the end of the Waterloo-Pinckney Trail. If you hike straight through the Losee Lake Trail and bushwack a little, you get to U of M's Stinchfield Woods. On the other side of the Stinchfield Woods is an undeveloped section of Hudson Mills Metropark - more bushwacking on a river. They are planning a new trail to Dexter from there. With the right route, you would probably end up with 40+ miles - enough for a long hike.

05/19/01

Before I started a hike at Pinckney Rec. Area today, I dropped by the headquarters and asked if there was a volunteer hiking trail crew. The ranger told me that the bikers do lots of trail work, but the hikers do nothing. Is this correct? Or is there a local trail crewthat I could link up with? Any help would be appreciated.

BTW, I have a second question: Where is everyone? I hiked the Losee Lake trail. It's short (3.5 miles), but not a bad little hike when combined with some of the other trails. Well, I saw no one. Today was absolutely gorgeous and there are like 5 million people within an hours drive. Did everyone just decide to stay home? Or are there just not that many hikers out there. BTW, this is not an unusual event. I almost always find Metro area trails uncrowded - even on weekends and holidays.

Finally, some advice: Don't go off-trail hiking in a swamp unless you really know what you are doing. I was trying to find a connector from the Losee Lake trail to Stinchfield Woods and ended up ankle high in mud surrounded by thorn bushes with bees dive-bombing me. I just started laughing and asked myself, "What were you thinking?" Anyway, I haven't given up. I'll find that connector yet.

01/26/03

Hi guys!

All the trip reports got me in the mood to type this one.

Our party of three - two human, one dog - set off for some hiking fun on Saturday at Stinchfield Woods. We weren't disappointed.

Stinchfield Woods is a piece of property in the 900 acre range that is owned by the University of Michigan for forestry study and astronomy. It is located just east of the Silver Lake area of Pinckney SRA. If you want to find it on a map, just look at the square bordered by Toma Rd, Stinchfield Woods Rd., Dexter-PinckneyRd. and North Territorial. Aside from a few houses, the land is all open to hiking and skiing between 6AM and 6PM. I don't know about bikes, although I know that during heavy summer bike weekends, you can hike there with little distraction.

Anyway, there are several possible parking spots around the square, but we chose the best one - a small renegade lot on the West side of Toma on state land. We crossed the road, passed through a break in the fence and started hiking.

It's hard to get lost in this place, considering the relatively small area. There are many singletrack trails, but there are also larger two-tracks that the university uses to manage the forest and get its scientists up to the telescopes. There are two older, traditional looking scopes that no longer have lenses near the caretaker's house.

There is also a giant radio telescope that we took a look at. It kind of reminded me of the movie "Contact." Also, we made a midwinter assault on Peach Mountain. Peach Mountain is the location of the radio antenna for WUOM, Michigan Public Radio. I am an avid listener and always love looking way up to the top of the tower and marveling that my favorite radio station is located in such a beautiful place.

Generally, the best way to hike Stinchfield is to just start hiking, get lost and try to find yourself again. I do have some maps, but they are out of print. If it is icy, an assault of Peach Mountain can be dangerous. Ice forms on the tower and falls off. This would be bad, bad. This area has trails that are much steeper than the nearby Waterloo-Pinckney Trail, so ski poles are recommended.

We hiked for 2.5 hours and probably covered 6 to 7 miles. I'll bet that there are 15 to 20 miles of paths in this place, so you can keep returning for different hikes. It kind of reminds me of the Kellogg Forest near Battle Creek.

Oh, yeah, it was cold and we had snow on the ground. But that won't change soon.

06/10/02:

Finally, last night I did a perimeter hike at Stinchfield Woods, land to the east of and contiguous with Pinckney SRA. I parked on Thoma Rd. (small, obscure parking area) and did probably 7 or 8 miles. This place is great, great, great. Lots of steep hills and beautiful forest. The highlights: Laying in the sun at the top of Peach Mountain. They keep is mowed, so it's kind of like an Appalachian bald. You get just enough of a view in an opening to the east to know that in winter this would be one of the best views in SE Michigan. I'm told by the only other hikers I saw that you have to be careful of ice chunks that fall from the WUOM transmitter on top of Peach Mountain. But still, it's kind of neat to know where my NPR comes from. Another highlight was the radio telescope on the west side of the 800+ acre area. Ever seen Contact? Yup. This telescope looks just like the ones in that movie. Big and exotic. Finally, Uof M allows hikers and skiers from 6AM to 6PM.

Vassar State Game Area: Hike Report

Vassar SGA

03/17/02

Hello!

I was at a conference in Frankenmuth at the end of last week and I just couldn't resist doing a little thumb tour. Of course, I was sick with this crazy virus that's going around and I couldn't hike very much.

That said, I did get a couple of miles in along the Cass River where it crosses M-46 (P.51 of Delorme's). It's in the Vassar SGA and is well-marked by, it appears, the Reese HS out-of-doors club. I really enjoyed the small section I hiked and wondered if anyone knows anything else about it. By my estimation, the contiguous Vassar and Tuscola SGAs are about 10,000 acres total - which put it on par with Waterloo or Pinckney Rec. Areas. Anyone have experience hiking this area?

Anyway, I was intrigued enough that I might head back up on a weekend in the summer. But I figured I'd ask for any local knowledge that might be on the board.

Thanks!
Mike
P.S. Beets are cool.

http://www.reese.k12.mi.us/ExtraActivities/ReeseOutofDoorsClub/tabid/251/Default.aspx

http://www.michigandnr.com/publications/pdfs/huntingwildlifehabitat/sga/vassar.pdf

http://www.michigandnr.com/publications/pdfs/huntingwildlifehabitat/sga/tuscola.pdf