In celebration of the unofficial last mountain bike race of the year, the Iceman (rode it last year, two hours of "on your left" was enough for me; one and done), we go back to 1994 when this mountain bike thing was gaining steam. To prove how much steam, I dusted off my coffee table book, Trail Atlas of Michigan (print date 1994) and spot checked what was available that year versus the trails currently in use in the metro Detroit area. Of the 33 trails available today in the area, only 13 formally existed in 1994; some in very different shape as well. To the many who have worked on creating the 20 other trails since then, thank you!
Trail Head
- Hickory Glen Park (Commerce Township) - not listed
- Highland Recreation Area (Highland Township) - listed with a note that formal mountain bike trails are in the planning stages
- Hines Park (Plymouth Township) - listed but no biking references
- Island Lake Recreation Area (Brighton) - listed
- Kensington to Proud Lake Connector (Milford Township) - not listed
- Lakeshore Park (Novi) - not listed
- Maybury State Park (Northville) - listed; trail built in '94
- Milford Trail (Milford) - not listed
- Munson Park (Monroe) - not listed
- Proud Lake Recreation Area (Commerce Township) - listed
- Rouge Park (Detroit) - not listed
- Brighton (Brighton) - listed but nothing close to the 16+ miles available today
- DTE Energy Foundation Trail (Chelsea) - Waterloo Rec Area listing only references walking trails
- Heritage Park (Adrian) - not listed
- Hewen’s Creek (Ypsilanti) - not listed
- Morton – Taylor (Canton) - not listed
- Olson Park (Ann Arbor) - not listed
- Potawatomi (Pinckney) - listed
- Rolling Hills (Ypsilanti) - listed but no bike references
- Sharon Mills (Manchester) - not listed
- Addison Oaks County Park (Leonard) - listed
- Bald Mountain Recreation Area (Lake Orion) - listed
- Bloomer Park (Rochester Hills) - listed
- Clinton River Park Trails (Sterling Heights) - not listed
- Holly-Holdridge Mountain Bike Trail (Holly) - listed with trails under construction
- Holly High School (Holly) - not listed
- Orion Oaks County Park (Lake Orion) - listed but no bike references
- Ortonville Recreation Area (Ortonville) - listed
- Pontiac Lake Recreation Area (Waterford) - listed
- River Bends Park (Shelby Township) - not listed
- Ruby Campground (Avoca) - not listed
- Seven Lakes State Park (Holly) - listed
- Stony Creek Metropark (Shelby Township) - listed but it has a reference that specifically calls out not having mountain bike trails
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| Prior to the creation of the trails on the west side of Duck Lake Rd, we had to battle the horse poop to ride. |
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| The park now has 16+ miles of trail. |
