I (Steve) often refer to the Trail System as my happy place or most favorite place to ride. I can take off in these trails and just wonder all afternoon. Lynn’s family doesn’t live far from the Churning Rapids Christensen Rd. Trailhead and I’ll just ride my bike up to the trails from their house. I started into Mountain Biking in the late 90s while at Michigan Tech, but mostly rode the Tech Trails. It wasn’t until just before graduating that I discovered the singletrack in Churning Rapids and I love to go back.
The singletrack has been expanded and improved over time and/or I just continue to discover more of it. There used to be a race on it years ago, of which I did 1 time when I was getting back into mountain biking after getting out of it in the post college years. I’d love to be Able to do that race over again.
Anyway, I love these trails, but it takes some time to figure them out from a mapping standpoint. I’ve got some good loops figured out that I like to ride and just wander around. There is some really good riding back in there. There is rocks, there is roots, there is flow, jumps, etc… If it’s your first time riding up there and you’re going to ride 1 trail or only have 1 climb in you, then I recommend taking the Thoroughfare route up to C33 and start off with the Upper Pow Pow, followed up by Finni Creek.
I’ll circle back with some more suggested routes in the future, but you can check out some trail videos below…
Parking
Map
Maasto Hiihto – Churning Rapids on Trailforks.comPhotos
