Burchfield County Park in Ingham County - just south of Lansing - is a unique trail system in the mid-Michigan/southeast Michigan area.  It is unique in that its trail system has been segregated to include sections of biker-only trail and other sections of trail meant for hikers. 

This is a different philosophy than almost every other trail system in the state.  Many trails espouse a multi-use ethic in which bikers and hikers share the trail.  Other trails simply ban bikes.  In 99.9% of Michigan’s trail systems, hikers are allowed on everything.  So, this park is unique.

The park is also unique in that it has allowed the local mountain bike community to construct many cutting edge routes, bridges and terrain features that make a ride more challenging.  So, there are often two parallel trails in sections of the park.  One trail is easy.  The other trail might have rocks or logs placed to maximize technical difficulty.

As a hiker, of course, I don’t really like the fact that there are trails here that I can’t hike.  And naturalists might take issue with the idea of ”improving” the terrain of a natural area.  However, I can’t argue with the idea that there should be trail systems that are biker-only.  There should probably be a few out there for the hard-core riders.

Luckily, I hiked the trail system on several occasions prior to the current pattern of segregated use.  My hike reports are below:

06/02/02
Tonight I went out to Burchfield County Park (Ingham County) and did a 6 or 7 mile loop around the perimeter of the park. Really nice trail. It is maintained by mountain bikers, so if you don’t like ‘em, stay away. I saw a handful from 5:30 to 7:30PM on a Sunday night. The trail follows the shore of the Grand River for about half of the loop I took. The far shore has a few houses but is mostly really natural. There are actually two paths that parallel the river. The one closest to the water is a technical mountain bike trail that comes the closest to approximating the “foot feel” of the Bruce Trail near Tobermory of any trail in southern Michigan. That’s because they’ve thrown a bunch of fieldstone down on the trail. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but I liked it. I also loved the old, old forest near the northern trailheads. There are also some rolling old field areas with a trail so tight that it barely fit one of my feet.  This place is just west of 127 near Mason, MI.

04/29/03

Burchfield County Park/Riverbend Natural Area (Delorme Atlas, P.39)

The trail system in this area is very fun, although I imagine it might be a turn off to those seeking a wilderness-type experience.  There are 10 to 15 miles of trail in the park, but some of this length is devoted to bypass trails built to create challenging routes for mountain bikers. The terrain is not bad. There are some hills and the views of the Grand River are very nice. Some small lakes also exist in the park. As mentioned previously, mountain bikers seem to love this place. In one section, they have dropped stone onto the trail to create a cobblestone hike/bike experience.  In other places, they have used avante-garde bridges and drop-offs to intensify biking excitement. Sure, these things can be annoying, but it sure makes this hike more interesting than many in the area. After all the dirt and sand I hike through, it’s kind of nice to hike over stones and have to jump a little bit. Trail marking is not always great, but it’s a bit difficult to get too lost. All in all, it’s not a bad place for a walk.

Park Map:

http://www.ingham.org/PK/Maps/BUR%20BW%20Hiking%20Trail%20Map.pdf

Park Website:

http://www.ingham.org/PK/BUR/burmain.htm

MMBA Trail Page:

http://www.mmba.org/trails.php?trail=16

Trackback URI | Comments RSS