Old Grade Trail Needs Work

unnamed creek on Old Grade Trail (photo by jhy)

written by JHY

The Trail at Old Grade Campground Near Peacock Partially Obliterated

Just north of 4-Mile Road and the Little Manistee River in Lake County, MI, is the Old Grade Campground, within the Manistee National Forest. As a typical NF Campground, it is open from about mid-May until mid-October.

The campground is named for the fact that the main road is a former railroad grade. A portion of a logging spur of the Manistee and Luther Railroad ran east-west and crossed the river near the western end of the campground. This straight and level berm makes a great vehicular road.

On the north side of the road is a loop trail of about 1.7 miles. It is roughly triangular with a fairly straight leg up the east side. Then the trail turns west into the woods and loops back toward the campground road. The bottom leg of the triangle parallels the road to connect back to the start.

Currently, the east portion is wide and clear. There are occasional blue diamond blazes. The turn to the west is marked, but would be easy to miss. The treadway is not clear at all, and blazes are too far apart. Using electronic aid, I managed to find the narrow and unmaintained west side of the triangle. Most of it could be followed, but it would be a challenge for novice hikers. It re-enters the campground behind one of the vault toilets.

Worst of all, the southern portion that parallels the road is in terrible shape with many downed trees. This is unfortunate, since it's closest to the campsites and would be a nice walk for families.

The east leg can be hiked as an out-and-back. The west leg can easily be followed to where the small creek flows into the Little Manistee River without problem.

During the part of the year when the campground is closed and gated, you can park outside the gate and walk in, but this will add a quarter-mile to your hike in each direction.

The Forest Service has an investment in this trail with several bridges, and a number of interpretive signs. Hopefully, the treadway will be cleaned up in spring of 2026. Perhaps they would be willing to accept volunteer help for this endeavor.

The campground has numerous sites and latrines.

This site has not yet been added to the GOTC website. See Huron-Manistee Forest Old Grade Campground page

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