Michigan Trail Riding/Camping?

[JollyBadger]

We’re planning our trips for this coming year, while also trying to coordinate riding time with old riding buddies who have moved away. One of them now lives in Michigan (Ann Arbor area), and she suggested a place called Hells Creek Ranch.

I looked into it - seems like they have a nice campground (it has a POOL! Oh, the luxury!). Horsetraildirectory.com said there are twenty miles of trail, but then one of the comments on the site says that it also connects to the local rails-to-trails which is 35 miles and (supposedly) allows equestrians.

My boyfriend and I both have TWHs, and we tend to cover ground when we ride, so we’d need more than twenty miles of trail to make it worth hauling the horses almost five hours and camping for several days.

We’re also looking into a couple of trips to the Big South Fork area (one to East Fork Stables in the spring, another to ride the BSF trails), a trip to Eminence/Cross Country Trail Ride, and some closer-to-home rides in Kentucky, Indiana, and southern Ohio.

I never really hear much about Michigan riding trails, though, so I was curious if anyone on this board has any thoughts (yay or nay) about them?

[goodhors]

You can get on the Michigan Trail Riders Association site, see what help they can give you. The site shows the Cross State Trail, camps along the way. They are more campout folks, than staying at special places with amenities. Not sure what kind of rig you have, if camping is a possibility. If you don’t care, lots of the Trail Riders sleep in their horse trailers, cook on an open fire, eat out of their coolers, while camping at the various horse camps on the Trail. Horses are kept on picket lines, no corrals or pens, no tying to trailers allowed that I know of.

http://www.mtra.org/

You SHOULD be able to get as much mileage as you like, going out and back from a camp, doing circle rides, riding on the two-tracks up in those areas.

Depending on the season, weather can be cold, sunny, hot. Sometimes all 3 in one day! The Trail is pretty country, shared with hikers. The north and south spurs may not be available at all times, just during the big rides because there are not wells to water animals, without generators.

The Rails to Trails stuff is still developing and improving. Some are nice, others not so much with horses pushed off the edge or paving the trails. Depends on which groups push the hardest, and horse folks seem to always be disorganized, waste their opportunities during development or follow-up sessions.

Lots of great riding, just takes some driving to reach that area. Hope you can come visit.

[JollyBadger]

Thanks goodhors!

My friend who lives up there is checking into some of the camps - my boyfriend has a two-horse slant with “weekender” LQ, though we camp comfortably with that for a week at a time. I think it would be fun to do a point-to-point style ride and camp in a different place each night, but he is much more of the “base camp” kind of guy who likes coming back to the trailer every night, settling the horses in, having dinner and a few drinks while sitting around the campfire, and going to bed.

I almost laughed out loud when I saw that the campground at Hells Creek had a pool. I’ve stayed in some nice horsecamps, but a pool seems way over the top. I’m just happy if there’s a clean shower house with hot water.:yes:

When it comes to campgrounds/amenities, I’m not picky as long as it’s a safe, clean place for the horses. They do their work in the daytime when we go riding, I want to be sure they have a comfortable place to stay at night, whether it’s a campground with stalls or just a tie-line or hitching post.

[goodhors]

I know one of the camps has a Campground, (used to be a Yogi Bear) across the street, where we would to go rent the WARM showers! Actually there were a lot of shower rentals in the past along the road with a sign, for the Deer Hunters who didn’t have amenities in their camps. Not sure if those are so widely available now, with everyone having trailers with LQ. Sun shower bags are popular for use inside your trailers.

A lot of the Other Half (non-rider) folks will move the trailer ahead to the next camp, so you ride out and “arrive” at home when you reach that camp. The OH goes fishing, does other things during the day hours. If you have friends there, maybe the trailers could move ahead, drive back in one truck, to all ride to the next camp. Then go get the first truck. MTRA has a bus to haul back the rig-jumpers each morning so they can ride, when doing the organized rides.

Each of the camps is a State Park, but being horse camps, they haven’t had the same bathrooms (no showers or running water), that plain camping folks have in their campgrounds. Hand pumps with COLD water were the norm last time I went. However the State is occasionally using horse camps for overflow campers, so bathrooms could have been improved.

There are some GREAT water crossings, bridges that go forever over the mud flats. My horses learned a lot by going, and were eager with plenty of FORWARD the whole day toward the new “home trailer” with food waiting at the end of the day. They “got it” about the third day out, that there was no going back, food is ALWAYS ahead.

You should probably get the map packet sold by the MTRA, has lots of extra information, like use ONLY MARKED watering places. That mud can REALLY suck a horse in. I ALWAYS carry a lasso, have needed it a few times to pull horses out. The MTRA has work sessions to keep the blue trail marks bright, but they do get lost, overgrown, removed, so you have to pay attention or be able to figure where to turn by trail use. DEEPER going is usually the best choice. Compass and ability to use it is good with the map, because one piney two-track can look JUST like the other one you don’t want! I am not familiar with GPS units, maybe those would work better for you.

If you get a wet, warm day, you might be able to pick Morels for supper. Sure a great finish after a day riding.

[JollyBadger]

@goodhors;6144802

Each of the camps is a State Park, but being horse camps, they haven’t had the same bathrooms (no showers or running water), that plain camping folks have in their campgrounds. Hand pumps with COLD water were the norm last time I went. However the State is occasionally using horse camps for overflow campers, so bathrooms could have been improved.

The above gave me a chuckle - just because it’s the same way for horse people in Ohio. Most of the state parks’ horsecamps are pretty basic, most are primitive, and just a couple of pit toilets scattered through the campground.

Which is fine - that’s all part of camping - except when you drive just up the road to see the “main” campground it’s like luxury living. . .water/electric available to every site, asphalt or gravel pads with nice firepits/fire rings, a conveniently-located dump station, nice clean shower houses, etc.

As I said to my SO, “the horse-people are livin’ in the ghetto. . .”:lol:

East Fork State Park has one of the nicer horseman’s campgrounds (they have a shower house, and I think they just put new electric boxes in for all the sites last year), but they also tend to allow a lot of hunters and overflow campers in there. It’s always fun to camp with horses right next to someone who has a dead deer hanging from a tree at their site. Keeps the horses on their best behavior.:winkgrin: