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.

Pere Marquette Rail-Trail - Evart to Farwell, MI

It was 63 degrees Monday, July 24, 2017, at 11:00 am when we began our ride of the Pere Marquette State Trail out of Evart, MI.  The section we are riding today begins at Evart and goes east through Lake and then to Farwell.  Each of these towns offers staging areas, and Farwell has two staging areas.

The trail is paved with asphalt, is wide, and is well maintained.  The picture on the left is the old train depot which now serves as a community center and holds some city offices.  There is a huge parking area at this trailhead.  We noticed someone had brought their travel trailer and parked it in the lot.  There was plenty of room.

Almost immediately upon leaving town we found this beautiful old bridge taking us across the Muskegon River.  On the right is the Muskegon River viewed from the bridge.




Pictured here are 2 of the 3 tunnels we cycled through.



It is fun to ride the rail trails knowing that there was once a train that passed this way quite frequently, and most likely there were people on the train looking out the windows seeing some of the same beauty we are seeing.  This was a gorgeous trail and we had such a perfect day in which to take in all of nature's best!

We saw farmlands, lakes, marshes, wildflowers, and many trees.

Loved the "sled parts" sign!

Can you imagine being on the trail in the winter and needing "sled parts"!  Oh my!

From Evart it is 13.6 miles to the town of Lake (our Michigan Trails book says Lake Station).  The picture on the left is the old train station along with a section of the old train.
On the right is the Lakeside Bar and Grill where we had lunch.

Before leaving town we went to this old General Store to check it out.  It had a little of everything!
We selected a package of trail mix for an energy boost on our ride.
Rail Trails have a max of 3 - 5 % grades, which is one reason we prefer riding them over other trails.

From Evart we noticed a small change in elevation during most of our ride into Lake.  We had been slowly climbing!


Just outside of Lake is the coal chute or coaling station used to resupply the train.  We have seen refilling stations before and they are usually situated at the top of the grade.  So when we came to this coaling station we knew we would be going down hill on our way to Farwell.

Farwell is about 8 miles from Lake, where we had lunch.  The landscape remains every bit as enchanting.

One of my favorite sites on our rides is the remarkably tall trees. Pictured on the left are some of those trees.  Wow!
On the right is a field of wildflowers and  tree branches.
Picturesque!

This picture is of a marsh where a beaver or perhaps several beavers have made their home.  Their construction site looked massive!

After 21 miles we reached Farwell and turned around at Little Field Park.  We then began our ride back to Evart.  The total miles for this ride were 42.  It was our biggest ride of the year and our longest on our recumbent bikes to date.  We both did very well on the ride and the mild temperatures helped make that possible.  There was a moment on about mile 33 that I was wishing my bike seat could be "fluffed" a bit!  HaHa!  We arrived back at our car in Evart around 5:00 pm.

Clare, MI is on our way to Midland where we are staying a couple of nights while riding nearby trails.  In Clare there is a bakery which has been in constant business since 1896.  In 2009 when the business (Clare City Bakery) was within weeks of closing its doors, the police officers of Clare (all 9 of them) went together and saved the historic business.  Thus the name "Cops and Doughnuts"!  On an interesting side note, a friend in our RV park said that this bakery was in their family at one time, owned by her grandparents!  It is so fun to learn the history of such places!

Chippewa Trail - Midland, MI

The Chippewa Nature Center is located southwest of downtown Midland, MI very near where the Pine and Chippewa Rivers come together.  The trailhead offers shade, restrooms, water, and ample parking.
When we arrived at 8:15 am it was 53 degrees F and there were already a good number of cars.  Some folks had arrived early to hike the trails throughout the area, and there were others who had arrived to lead or participate in a nature day camp for children ages 3 through 16.  We saw these kiddos outside getting ready for their adventures and they were having a ball!

3.5 miles to Midland
  

 Parts of the trail are lined with beautiful trees.

 Some parts of the very flat trail are straight, other parts have curves.  There are a few wood bridges, and several marshes.

Here the trail runs between ball fields

In this area the trail reveals extensive marsh areas and wetlands.






On the left is Chris on one of the bridges over a marsh.  On the right are blackberries.  There was a man in the blackberry patch helping himself to what looked like about 3 quarts of big ripe berries!


This is the "tridge" located at the end of the Chippewa Trail.  It is a three-way wooden bridge for bikers or walkers.  The structure opened in 1981 and spans the confluence of the Chippewa and Tittabawassee Rivers near downtown Midland.

Today's ride was 7.2 miles total.  Because the day was still young we headed over to the Dow Gardens in Midland for more sightseeing.

We both enjoyed this trail and the beauty of nature.  This trail can best be enjoyed with bug spray applied liberally.  Have fun riding this scenic trail on Michigan's east side!