matt3liv - 2008-10-13 4:32 PM
triOK - 2008-10-13 4:27 PM
matt3liv - 2008-10-13 3:21 PM
Who would want to go? I'll bust out the homegrown for a spin. Its been begging for it, actually.
How far is Shelby Township from there?
Are you asking me? I dunno.
I'm gonna hijack my own thread...
How are you doing? I haven't seen you in ages. I miss all my BT pals.
I figured KellC would chime in on the distance. That's where she lives.
The MTB trails at stony are extensive... I'm guessing the big (complicated) loop is maybe 8 or 9 miles around, with lots of trails criss-crossing their way through the middle. I rode my cross bike there and could handle all but a couple of the trails marked 'expert'. The trails range from double track (think overegrown dirt road with two rutted tire tracks) to single track, with moderate hills - mostly rolling, but the expert trails can have some short areas where it's a little steep. It's not tree-dangerous like poto - it's more open, nor are the hills as steep as poto. On a cross bike, it's a bone-shaker, but on MTB should be lots more comfy.
You can 'assemble' a ride that's pretty long as well, linking multiple segments. And if that's not enough, you can start in Rochester on the Clinton River Trail, hit Bloomer Park (which has KICKASS terrain and is TOUGH), rejoin the trail and take it out to Stony, then do stony, and back.
The only last bit of advice is that I found the trails at stony well marked, but there were so many segments for the big loop that I got lost....trying to remember 1-2-14-12-26-29-3-19-18-2-1 was a challenge, I should have written it down but didn't have anything to write with. There's a map at the trailhead, but no maps out on the loop...luckily I could bail onto the road that was the golf course entrance about halfway around.
To get to the trailhead, if you're coming from the south side entrance to the park, go past the boat launch and (I think) your next left (will be marked with 'mtb and walking trails') will be back through a series of parking lots and picnic areas. Go through all of them (it's a ways, I'm guessing a mile?; the last parking lot will have the trailhead on the right. You'll see a big, worn path heading back into the woods and the map / sign.
And Stony Creek is about at 26 and Dequindre. The park actually straddles Oakland and Macomb Counties, and is IN Shelby Township (which occupies the northwest corner of Macomb county).