View Sharonville SGA: Norvell Rd. in a larger map 

Michigan’s system of state game areas provide an underappreciated resource to area hikers.  The game areas are mostly funded by hunters and managed for game species.  Parking areas tend to be more numerous than in the state parks.  And there are few hiking trails in the game areas.  Most paths provide access to natural areas from the parking lots.  That said, in many cases it is possible to hike from lot to lot.

And that kind of lot to lot hiking creates the possibility for some multi-mile routes across the Sharonville State Game Area on the Washtenaw/Jackson County border near Manchester.  During the past few years, I have had a goal of figuring out a good east-west route across the entire game area.  This report focuses on a western portion of the game area on the west side of Norvell Road.

The walk begins at a lot just to the south and west of the intersection of Norvell Road and Raby Road.  The major hiking opportunity here is a two-track that follows the route of a natural gas pipeline.

There is nothing terribly remarkable about this land.  There are some dense woodlots and some marshes.  I hoped that the large marsh near the parking lot might yield some nice views.  The marsh, however, was obscured by heavy vegetation.

The hiking here is easy.  The pipeline route is well-maintained and there is evidence of use by horse riders from a nearby campground.  In fact, this route dead-ends at the property boundary to this horseman’s camp.  I am very curious if the campground has additional trails for visitors.  It might make for a very nice staging area for a backpacking trip across the game area.

This main route is only a half mile out and back.  Alone, it’s not really worth the effort.  However, as part of a longer hike route across Sharonville, it makes for a good solid trail segment.

Official DNR map:

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

Note: There is a trail that branches north from this main two-track a short distance west of the parking area.  It headed into an area of dense mud, so I was not able to hike it.  However, it does seem to get some regular horse use.  I followed it as far as a gas pipeline substation before deciding that moving through the mud was just not worth it.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS