WMMBA: Cannon Township MTB Trail

[c0nsumer]

Thread to discuss Cannon Township MTB Trail.

[RickPlite]

first!

[G.R.XC-MTNBKR]

I have been unable to find directions to the trailhead if there is one. Is anyone gonna post this info?

[cramer]

Information about this trail has been posted in the "Volunteers Needed" section of the forum up until now. It's new, and sort of unique in that it's a short trail (1.2 miles) without any current plans to expand it. The idea is sort of similar to what is going on in GR where they're slowly putting together a string of trails in some sort of urban loop. Individual trails may be short but in the context of the location, they're part of something bigger. In this case, this trail is centrally located between The Cannonsburg Ski Area and Luton so it can be included in rides that include the other existing trails in the area.

The trail is new and still needs to be smoothed out from riding and I already know of a few changes I'll be making so it flows better, but it has potential. In the future, we'll be looking to add some trail features to further enhance the ride.

Trailhead:

SE corner of Myers Lake and Belding Rd.

Cannon Township Center
6878 Belding Road NE
Rockford, MI 49341

The trailhead has a newly built restroom and drinking fountain on the east side of the fire dept. It's also the trailhead for the Cannon Township Paved Path which is a beautiful paved trail about 4 miles long with some nice hills. The other end of the paved trail ends currently at Townsend Park. To get to the mountain bike loop, just follow the paved trail south / east from the parking lot and it's right there, on the property behind the township center.

[G.R.XC-MTNBKR]

In this case, this trail is centrally located between The Cannonsburg Ski Area and Luton so it can be included in rides that include the other existing trails in the area.

The trail is new and still needs to be smoothed out from Trailhead:

SE corner of Myers Lake and Belding Rd.
Cannon Township Center
6878 Belding Road NE
Rockford, MI 49341

The trailhead has a newly built restroom and drinking fountain on the east side of the fire dept. It's also the trailhead for the Cannon Township Paved Path which is a beautiful paved trail about 4 miles long with some nice hills. The other end of the paved trail ends currently at Townsend Park. To get to the mountain bike loop, just follow the paved trail south / east from the parking lot and it's right there, on the property behind the township center.

Thank you. I live close so I can hit all three, assuming the Ski area is open.
And I can at least help you break it in.

[RickPlite]

"Thank you. I live close so I can hit all three, assuming the Ski area is open. "

unfortunately they are still closed due to construction

[cramer]

Today a friend and I went out with our daughters and made some adjustments to make it flow better. We had our little girls remove those trail corridor marking ribbons while walking the trail. I've been pulling down a couple dozen every ride out there the last week. Any help removing the rest of those is greatly appreciated. We opened up a couple of corners to make them faster and fixed that super tight "S" curve at the top of the hill. I cut out some tree stumps that were left behind from the original trail work days.

Ran into a guy out with his son riding the trail for the first time, they did a couple of laps. He said he learned about it from John H in his Boy Scout troop. Super cool to see it used in that way! that's a prime target for this trail, getting families out to enjoy it together and building the next generation of riders!

[3M TA3]

anyone know if night riding is allowed on this trail?

[cramer]

It's not disallowed. I think if we want to keep it that way, be respectful, etc. and try to ride it at a reasonable hour. Riding it at midnight is more likely to get the negative attention of the people living around there than at 10:00 or earlier- where it's actually light during the summer months at that same time.

[yamaha13]

Rode the new trail tonight mostly in the dark but what a perfect trail to ride in the dark, very small climbs, not to technical perfect for the entire family to ride day or night. Trail is about a 1 1/2 miles long. Can't wait to add it to Trifecta course in the spring.

[cramer]

Rode it tonight in the snow. The trail is doing well and it was easy to follow. Many trees down though, at least three, maybe four, some big ones too. I will get to them when I'm able, if anyone else can help, let me know.

[yamaha13]

Rode the trail tonight, cleared paths around the two big trees, may want to leave it that way adds character to the trail. The third tree is a fairly small one. Cyclocross style dismount needed. Hard packed and fast.

[BigGear]

Finally got on this trail. It's great that it's inbetween cannonsburg and luton. Nexted time I might take the paved trail that goes to richmond park to get to cannonsburg. I like this option better than meyers lake between M44 and west river, alot of drivers don't look for bike on that road.

[cramer]

This trail doesn't get as much traffic so it took a little longer to firm up and get faster / pack down the bumps but it's pretty decent now. I'm planning a trail work day tentatively for Oct. 20th at 9:00 AM. Trail needs trimming and I want to work on some berms on the longest downhill to make it faster. Would also like to add a jump somewhere and maybe a tech feature but haven't decided exactly where yet. I'll post up more details later.

[cramer]

This trail doesn't get as much traffic so it took a little longer to firm up and get faster / pack down the bumps but it's pretty decent now. I'm planning a trail work day tentatively for Oct. 20th at 9:00 AM. Trail needs trimming and I want to work on some berms on the longest downhill to make it faster. Would also like to add a jump somewhere and maybe a tech feature but haven't decided exactly where yet. I'll post up more details later.

Update:

I found out the township is holding a "clean up" event their this Saturday so I rescheduled for next Saturday.

October 27th 9:00 AM meet in the Cannon Township Office parking lot at the trailhead - work until lunch time.

We will not have the WMMBA tool trailer so please bring tools. What we need are shovels, garden rakes, tree pruners and loppers. Be sure to put your name on your stuff to ensure you get it back when we're done.

We will be trimming the trail, building some berms to improve the flow on some downhills and adding a couple of technical features (depending on how many volunteers we get).

Merrell has agreed to sponsor the trail work event again this year - THANKS Merrell! They will be providing pizza lunch and drinks and they will also have some free giveaways and gift certificate to give to a lucky volunteer.

Weather: If it's a light rain or drizzle we'll still plan on working but if it's really raining we'll re-schedule. I will post the cancellation notice here if that happens.

If you were already planning on doing the trail day out at Macatawa the same day, please do that as I think building a new trail is more important than the improvements on this one.