NCT Hillsdale County Data Book Available

sign near the Michigan/Ohio border on the North Country Trail (photo by jhy)

by jhy

Because the portion of the North Country Trail in southeast Michigan is often considered to be impossible to hike unsupported, my first effort at creating a data book was directed toward this area. What I learned is that if you hike between September 11 to May 14 (when it is legal to camp in the Lost Nation State Game Area- or any Michigan SGA), and are willing to pay for an occasional motel, you can easily make it through Hillsdale County.

In fact, if you continue north, you would probably need someone to serve as a trail angel in Homer, Michigan, but that is the only stop it would be impossible to find legal lodging at reasonable hiking-day intervals. By reasonable, I mean under 15 miles. If you are willing to hike 22 miles, you can make it from the Litchfield Village campsite to the city of Albion, in Calhoun County.

This data sheet is the first of what I hope will become a series for Michigan, but there is no projected timeline for completion. This is an entirely volunteer effort, and my time and resources are limited. It includes a basic guide, mileages, water sources, lodging options, other resources, land ownership, and USGS topo quads.

It is presented along with the fledgling web site that is another of my unrealistic projects, www.exploreNCT.info. This site is added to as I have time and inspiration, but I hope to grow it into a fun and valuable resource.

You can find the link to the Hillsdale County data book under Hillsdale County on the Lower Michigan page. See ExploreNCT Lower Michigan

I hope you might check out the other pages that are currently available on the site, even if they are currently few.

See ExploreNCT
These links are checked on the date of the article. As the article ages, some links may become invalid

Go To www.getoffthecouchnews.blogspot.com for all the news
See Get Off The Couch