Grand River Valley Rail Trail - Saranec to Ionia, MI

We took advantage of a gorgeous fall day on Monday (September 11, 2017) and drove to Saranac, MI to explore the Fred Meijer Grand River Valley Rail Trail.  We began our ride at 11:15 a.m. under clear skies and a perfect-for-riding 66 degrees!

This fairly new trail was finished in 2013 and is 8.25 miles in length from Saranac to Ionia.
Pictured is the old Saranac Depot and is the trailhead where we began our ride.

The Saranac trailhead is situated on the Grand River and has a nature trail, picnic area, and a historical museum.
We rode over 5 restored railroad bridges on our way to Ionia, such as the one on the left.
Beautifully crafted granite mile markers are placed along the trail to advise us of our progress.

Early on the ride we encountered golf ball sized objects on the trail.  I had no idea what they were, but Chris did.  He opened one so I could see what a walnut looked like before it made it to my pancakes!

Zoom in for a better view of the limestone surface

As you can see from the pictures, we are surrounded by beauty,  Tall trees and heavily wooded areas fill most of our view along with glimpses of the Grand River.
This rail trail is paved a short distance within Saranac and Ionia but the bulk of the trail is crushed, screened, and compacted limestone.
It was for this reason that Chris opted to load our trikes for this particular ride.  Several riders we encountered used regular upright bicycles with wide tires.

 We stopped on the bridge over the Grand River to take some pictures and enjoy the view.

Chris with the Grand River in the background

Pic on the left and located in west Ionia is the Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility.  On the right is another trail pic.





Pictures here show the newly constructed pedestrian bridge over M-66.
The pedestrian bridge runs beside an old grain elevator and takes us into downtown Ionia.




The pic on the left is the old train depot in Ionia.  On the right is the Ionia Courthouse Building, completed in 1886.  This building was built using local pink sandstone and replaced an 1840s hall of justice.  When built the building was heated by 14 fireplaces and lit by gas!  Electricity was installed in 1922.  Spending a day in Ionia and looking at or photographing the historical homes and buildings would be an interesting excursion.

It's 1:00 p.m. and we're hungry!  Chris googled nearby restaurants and we headed off trail for Main Street.
Our destination was a 4 year old business called Aunt Stephie's.  We found a perfect place to park our bikes right out front!
Our waitress/server/cashier was Aunt Stephie and she was a delight.  Stephie was full of sparkle and eager to impress us with her homemade chicken salad, soups, and freshly made beef patties for mouth watering olive burgers.  I had the olive burger and Chris chose the Chicken Salad on a Croissant.  Both were delicious!

Aunt Stephie bringing homemade pie

We asked Aunt Stephie if she had pie.  And she did!  Freshly made by her husband's 91 year old grandmother!  Chris had the apple and I chose blueberry.  Both were delicious.  The food was good and the price was very reasonable.

Pics of downtown Ionia.  On the left is the Ionia Theatre and on the right you can see the brick road and some of the old historical buildings.

By 1:45 p.m. it is 76 degrees and we are ready turn around and head back to Saranac.




We stoped to take some photos with some of the seasonal colors.  Trees and shrubs are just beginning to get their fall colors.
(Click on any of these photos to enlarge.)

At one of our photo stops, while Chris was taking in the beautiful colors of nature, his trike took off in another direction.  Guess we were on more of a hill than we realized.

We were almost back to the Saranac trailhead when we decided to take a little scenic detour from our rail trail.  This is the Saranac Village Nature Park.

The park was a quiet ride and had a park bench,  rustic restroom, geese, and a pond.
Not sure why this tree had been cut down, but thought it made for an interesting picture.

 We made a loop and then biked out of the park and went a short distance on our trail again.  There was another little side trail that we followed and it took us by the Grand River and then to the back side of the old train station in Saranac...and thus, our car.
It was around 3:35 p.m. by the time our bikes were loaded and we were ready to head home to Muskegon, MI.  Our round trip of biking was approximately 20 miles.  The trail was well maintained and tree branches trimmed back from the bike path.  Crushed limestone on the trail made it slower to ride, but doable.  Because of the extraordinary beauty along the trail we both agree that the Grand River Valley Rail Trail is worth experiencing.

Happy Trails, from Chris and Debbie

Saginaw Valley Rail Trail - St Charles to Saginaw, MI

Saginaw Valley Rail Trail Trailhead in St Charles

Wednesday, July 26 Chris and I were on day 3 of a three day biking extravaganza.  The goal was to ride 3 new trails in 3 days.  The Saginaw Valley Rail Trail was the third and final new trail for us to tackle while visiting the eastern side of Michigan.  This rail trail was completed in 2009 and is very flat, nice and wide, asphalt surface, and well maintained.
We drove to the trailhead at St. Charles located in Lumberjack Park.  There is plenty of great parking here, water, and "rustic" restrooms.  When we began our ride around 8:15 am it was 62 degrees.

On the left is a restored rail bridge over the Bad River.  The next 2 pics are of the Bad River.  There are a total of 7 restored rail bridges on this trail.

We passed through many tall trees forming a canopy over the trail.  So pretty!

The trail passes through the Shiawassee River State Game Area and the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge.  We saw several squirrel, chipmunks, and rabbits along the way.

There was even a round about!  Now that was unusual, but very fun!

This carving on the left was on the round about.  It is a squirrel, and on the bottom is carved "exercise nut".

For a Wednesday morning we thought the trail was pretty busy.  Many bikers were out taking advantage of the cool temps.

We passed by several beautiful farms.

Corn stalks not quite ready for harvest

There are a total of 3 trailheads on this trail.  The middle one is the Van Wormer Road Trailhead.  That trailhead is very nice.  We rode to the trailhead at Saginaw, the Strobel Road Trailhead.  There is a huge parking area there, but that is about all.  The trail continues from the trailhead another 1/2 mile on what appeared to be a much smaller trail or sidewalk.  We turned around and started back, but not before stopping to visit with other bikers.  A group of about 15 bikers were gathering to have a morning ride.  What fun!

Tracks near the Stroebel Rd Trailhead

When we finished our 20 mile ride, Chris loaded the bikes and we started researching restaurants on our GPS.  Two or three options popped up on our phones so we decided to go take a look to make a decision as to where to go.  Within a couple of blocks of Lumberjack Park we spotted this group of parked bikes at the Rustic Steakhouse and Saloon.  Figured it must be a good place to stop if this many bikers were here.  The food was good and we got to visit with some of the other bikers.
This was a fun three days of exploring and riding new bike trails.