Lansing - River Trail - decent dirt trail found

[TenSpeed]

Wife and I have been riding the River Trail a lot lately, as it is less than a mile from our house. Anyway, today we hit the trail and on the way back I noticed a pretty well developed dirt trail off the main one. Well, I headed out on a little adventure, and I found that someone has been doing some work out there. I am not sure how far it goes, but I am going back in the morning to see. I will post back my findings. There is a sketchy small bridge and an even sketchier skinny section. I might get some pics if I can remember to take my camera with me.

If anyone wants to know where it is, start out behind Best Steakhouse/Whiskey Barrel and head along the highway for about .5 miles, once the trail goes under the railroad bridge, keep an eye out on the left hand side. I don't know exactly how far it is, or if anyone even cares, but it is there.

[dauber76]

Sounds like you stumbled upon one of Joe's trails. He's got a network of stuff along the grand river.

[geardaddy37]

Sounds like you stumbled upon one of Joe's trails. He's got a network of stuff along the grand river.

Yeah, and if I remember right, Joe rides a 1x9...so it's karma baby!

[TenSpeed]

Well I rode this trail today. Pretty impressive, and I am bummed that I didn't ever see it before. I think I got most of it. The trail seems to dump you off at the railroad tracks....and I looked for a continuation but didn't see one. Is there one? I was hesitant to ride it back to the River Trail backwards but I did, slowly.

[spwrozek]

If I recall the railroad folks caught some people out there and got pretty PO about trails and people on their right of way. So just be careful.

[TenSpeed]

I totally stayed away from the tracks. I was along the bottom down where there were no stones. I know I shouldn't be by the tracks, so I didn't stay.

[bikejoe]

I’m glad to hear that you like the trail hf. The property is part of old Crego Park. There was a short discussion about it here in the spring: http://www.mmba.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=95984

As it is a closed City Park so posting photos of structures might not help it continue to exist. That first skinny ramp is not mine. I enjoy riding over it but it is really just a pile of flotsam. Structure #2 is real. It is important because the ditch it straddles grows wide in the spring.

As was mentioned, the railroad is not to be messed with. Most of the last 15 years has been a rail riding free-for-all. Now enforcement has been stepped up so don’t ride anywhere on rail property. The rail police are taking names and making serious threats so just don’t go there. That means don’t ride the trail any further east than US127. Turn around there instead of going under the overpass and doing the final section. Don’t ride on the stones or cross the rails if you don’t want trouble.

So, have fun out there. Be careful too. These trails are not laid out to IMBA standards.

[TenSpeed]

Thanks for the link and information. I was pretty impressed with that bridge. I didn't expect it at all when I was out there. Are there more trails like this along the river trail?

[bikejoe]

I’m glad you like the bridge. It was a major undertaking at the time. What’s there now is not as perfect as the original. I had to rebuild after someone sledge-hammered the thing to bits.

There are two more short sections in that area.

One on the same, east side of the river trail, to the south from the trail you know. It’s entry is next to a mile marker. This one used to go all the way to Crego Pond. 30 years ago there was a boardwalk here so park visitors could get to the river. The trail stops at a now-dry water crossing.

The other is on the opposite side, to the north. Goes to the BWL lime pits.

These are relatively short out-and-backs, nothing special at all.