Musketawa Trail - Muskegon to Ravenna (MI)

On a bridge near Ravenna, MI

The Musketawa Trail lies on what was originally the Central Michigan Railroad.  The 26-mile rail bed was acquired in 1992 and made into the beautiful bike trail shown.  The trail stretches between Muskegon and Grand Rapids where it turns into the Fred Meijer Pioneer Trail.  We are riding half of the trail today making a round trip total of 25 miles.  It was 74 degrees at 10:15 am on Tuesday, August 4 when we began our ride at the staging area on Broadway Street in Muskegon, MI.  Our destination is east of us to the town of Ravenna.  We have ridden this trail 3 or 4 times in the past 6 years because it is not all that far for us to travel to begin the ride.

The pic on the left shows the trailhead and our entrance to the trail.  The entire trail is paved with asphalt, is wide and well maintained.  There is not a lot of canopy on this trail so it is a trail that we avoid during the hottest part of the summer.

Just a few miles from our trailhead in Muskegon we find the most unusual grouping of "facilities" that we have ever seen along a bike path.  What more could a biker/walker need?

During our ride to Ravenna we observed farms on both sides of the trail.  There are corn crops, beans (we think soy), and blueberry fields.  There are blueberry stands throughout this area of Michigan all summer long, or so it seems.  The picture on the left is one of many blueberry fields.  On our way back to Muskegon this field was full of workers picking blueberries.



After 12.5 miles and approximately an hour of biking (and taking pictures) we reached Ravenna.  The picture on the left is the trailhead in Ravenna.

Our destination was Ravenna Roundtable Restaurant for a light lunch before heading back to Muskegon.  Service was good, prices reasonable, and food acceptable.  While at lunch two bikers came in and we were able to visit with them a few minutes.  Their ride had started from the Grand Rapids area, the opposite end of the trail from ours.  While visiting with the couple they mentioned that we would notice a big difference in our ride back to Muskegon.  Evidently the wind had picked up and we would be riding into about a 20 mph wind.

Ravenna (pronounced Rah-Vannah) is a community of approximately 1200.  Pics on left and right give a glimpse of the town.

This trail is not as interesting or as "pretty" as many that we have ridden in Michigan, but it is smooth and good for a biking workout.  The wind was formidable as we made our way back to our trailhead. As we reached our trailhead and car, we saw a man sitting at a nearby picnic table.  We had seen this man earlier today heading west as we were heading east and here he was next to our car with his face buried in the biking magazine that all of us Michigan bikers use as a guide.  He also had an atlas open on the table.  When we stopped at our car and started unloading our bike we had the opportunity to meet this remarkable man.
We want you to meet Chet.  He was headed for the P.J. Hoffmaster State Park in Muskegon.  Earlier in the day he began his ride just outside of Grand Rapids and estimated he had ridden 40 miles thus far.  As you can see from the pics he was on a trike and was pulling a small, but fully loaded, trailer.  Upon reaching the state park he was going to camp and stay a couple of nights.
The timing of our return was no accident.  Chet's face was buried in the trail guide for a reason.  He is legally blind.  He also has Multiple Sclerosis.  Because this trail literally ends here, he must use city streets (with bike lanes hopefully) to get to the state park on the west side of town.
Chris was able to pull the park up on his phone and find the appropriate streets for Chet to travel to reach his destination.  We had quite a visit with this very nice man.  He told us about his bike/trike and modifications he had made.  He has a kinetic energy recovery system and 2 batteries to help him out if or when the going got to be too much.

Meeting Chet was the highlight of our ride today. This dear man had much he could have complained about, but he didn't.  His focus was all about plans he had made and things he wanted to accomplish.  His attitude and approach to life was inspirational.  We wished him well on his life journey and God's blessings before heading home.