Hungerford Bike Trails - Lots to Do

The fourteen miles of bicycle trails at Hungerford Lake near Big Rapids, Michigan, need a lot of work. The Michigan Mountain Biking Association (MMBA) has pledged to supply that.

Hungerford is within the Manistee National Forest and includes ski trails, bike trails, and a well-used system of horse trails. The horseback riders are currently the only group that uses the area regularly.

But the MMBA would like to re-vamp the bike trails and make the area a destination ride. Located only 45 minutes by car from Grand Rapids, it has the potential to become a highly popular day trip. Camping is even allowed for those who want to add that to their itinerary.

Hungerford is really known as a horse-riders destination. Poor signage and low use by the other groups has led to a lot of incursion of equestrians on the bike trails. Volunteers from the horse rider's community are responsible for most of the work done at Hungerford to date. They created a campground, expanded the horse trail system and planned three future group campsites.

All such volunteer activities must be done under the supervision of Manistee National Forest staff.

The MMBA had hoped to accomplish more this past year, but only got as far as identifying the problems and proposing some soluntions. They report that their first priority for 2008 will be to re-sign the trails so that the mountain biking trail will be identifiable.

see the whole article from The Grand Rapids Press, "Mountain bikers to try again at Hungerford", by Howard Meyerson, Dec 21, 2007
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