Michigan Riders

[ZSK]

Anybody else ride the gladwin county orv trails off of M-61?

[MITrail400EX]

Yeah, they suck. Miles and miles and miles of never ending whoop sections. No challenge just constant whoops. Gets boring after 1st couple of miles. If you want some decent riding, heres what I suggest.

1. Bull Gap. Excellent trails, 110 miles worth. Nicely groomed. Fairly wide, so you can actually fit something bigger than a TRX90 down them. VERY nice hill climb at the Bull Gap Hill.
2. St Helens. Ok trails, but badass scramble area. Some nice hills, but nothing like Bull Gap.
3. Kalkaska North and South. Very tight trails, extremely technical. Steep hills with sudden pitch changes, Very long, very tough trails. If you are up for a challenge, go here. I would NOT recommend riding here by yourself. Its way too dangerous for these trails. St. Helens and Bull Gap, you can get away with it, but not here.
Good luck and I'll probably see you out there. Just look for the quad in my pic.
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[86350x]

St helens is fun on a birtbike, but to tight for any real fun speed sections on a quad. Bull gap is the most fun, but really crowded anymore. Go early if you want to go fast and have fun.

All of northern mich has the big sand whoops. Bull gaps can be alot of fun.:)

[ZSK]

Where is Bull Gap? Is that near Mio and "the pink store"? Thanks for the info and I don't ride alone, I don't suggest that anybody else does either, you can get hurt or stuck or break something and you're S.O.L. Why do you say that Gladwin sucks I have a blast when I go. If you go back a ways the whoops tame down and you can get into some serious mud, lot's of fun trying to keep a 300ex moving in the mud.

Just curious how do you attack the whoops on the trails? I try to wheelie over them, or roll over them.

[Adam202]

The bull gap trail area is a fun place to ride. The Bull gap hill is fun to mess around on but its a pretty small hill. the side hills on bull gap are alot more fun but the hill is no challange really. i ride around maltby hills alot right from south branch where my cottage is located. there is a hill there alot bigger than bull gap, its called elbow hill and is VERY challanging right now because your not aloud to ride there so the hill its pretty beat up. i couldnt get up on my banshee the last time i went. but when you could ride there i could make it up on my blaster :D . Bull gap is in mio, theres a place you can drive right up to the hill in your truck, quad, or bike. theres alot of different areas to start from but i would recommend the bull gap entrance. im bad with directions around there but im sure you could find it with a map. the pink store is pretty close to a bull gap entrance. not the opne right at the hill but itll take you there. bull gap is about a hour ride from the maltby hills. LMK if i can be anymore help.

[nakomis0]

Silver Lake is still hands down the best place to ride in MI. I'm going up Labor Day, anydody else?

[MITrail400EX]

Well, like Adam said Bull Gap is a blast. I don't care too much for the tight stuff, I'm more of a dune-head myself (Silver Lake rules!) I actually used to ride at Maltby hills when I was just a lil squirt. Of course, this was when 3 wheelers were still legal and a 75cc two stroke wasn't all that tiny. To answer the questions at hand, Bull Gap's trailheads are all over the place. The Pink Store is a great trailhead, as anyone who has been down M-33 knows where the pink store is. You have to ride north to get back to the Bull Gap hill from there. Last time I was there, the section between Mio and the Pink Store was a solid line of mud. It was great. Anything from small enough to splash through, to "Oh sh*t, I better put my airbox lid on. I mentioned that Gladwin sucks because its too crowded and too whoopy. Yeah, some whoop sections are great and add to the ride, but not when all 60 some miles of trails are whoops. And to answer your question of how I get over the whoops? It depends on how I feel. Early on in the ride, or just after a break: Stand up, lean back, relax, hold the throttle in, and soak up the bumps. Late in the ride when my laziness kicks in: I plop my *** on the seat, slow down, and ride the whoops like a carnival ride. Happy riding, maybe I'll see you up there. BTW, there is no way I could make the dunes Labor day weekend. I'll be Toronto (with my SARS mask) for work. Sorry, maybe some other time.

[Adam202]

yea those whoops will kill ya when you go over alot. i snowmobile alot and whoops in snow can get really bad, it really sux when you go over them for miles and miles. coming from rose city you take a right in the middle of mio and there are some places to park, if you go down a ways there is a dirt road that takes your to the main part of the bull gap hill, theres a huge parking lot but if you keep going itll take you to the bull gap hill and if you have a orv sticker on your truck you can take it up the hill :D. it is really a fun place to ride ;) . the pink store is classic, we get gas there alot and our freinds cabin is right across the street.

[86350x]

I'm taking tommorow off, and heading up to bull gap. Gonna try some different routes this time, so I hope I don't end up getting lost.

If you do a search I put up a thread not too long ago about bull gap with alot of good pics.:ermm:

[230Quadsport]

Anybody go to Sand Lake off of 55. Trails are pretty much all sand and very wide. Rode about 60 last weekend until my handlebars broke off.

[PHAT400]

Originally posted by nakomis0
Silver Lake is still hands down the best place to ride in MI. I'm going up Labor Day, anydody else?

I will be there, Maybe some buddies of mine also... Are there any trails @ Silver Lake to ride? :cool:

My wife and boy went up there with me last year... Just enjoyed the scenery. This time we are quad rich.... Hopefully will be riding this year.. staying @ Sierra Sands hotel.... BTW we are on the web site for them also... Man what a great place...

[HondaChris]

Nope, there are no trails right at Silver Lake to ride, but I think there are some within not too far of driving distance (around an hour) from there.

[nakomis0]

Ya no trails really, but trust me you dont need trails when you have about 2-3 sq miles of dunes sitting right on Lake Michigan.

... ok it might not be lake michigan... i ain that good with those great lakes.:rolleyes: :huh

[nakomis0]

What part of michigan is everyone from? Im from Oxford... thats north of pontiac. And I use to live in madison heights, i still go down there all the time.

[HondaChris]

true...who needs the trails when you got all that sand...I'm in southern MI...Hillsdale County

[ZSK]

I'm from Standish, little town about 40 miles north of saginaw or 30 north of Bay City

[PHAT400]

1 mile from the state line mid state Indiana. My son is 5 and I am hoping to find some trails for him. scrambler 50 is what he's on,, any suggestion...?

[230Quadsport]

Auburn here, right between Bay City and Midland.

[dasheek]

saline, mi.... I was up to bull gap a week ago. It was a good ride. We parked at the m-33 lot. there was a few mud holes going north on "a" but not to bad.

[MITrail400EX]

I'm from Livonia, MI. Its a western suburb of Detroit, for those of you who've never heard of it. I usually drive anywhere from 2 1/2 to 5 hours depending on which trail I am going to. It took us 4:45 to get to Silver Lake with a full truck (Two quads and a dirtbag...I mean bike, plus camping gear). Usually takes about 3 hours to get up to Bull Gap from here, but I love the drive. Its so nice once you're north of Flint. People upnorth still know how to drive, unlike the cellphone toting, map reading, lipstick applying, McDonalds eating, coffee spilling, baby crying, no-turn-signal using, ignorant sons-a-*****es we have to deal with down here. :mad: :rolleyes: :macho (Incredible Hulk style) It makes me so angry sometimes!!! Sorry, had to get that out. Whos up for ice cream??

[86350x]

Port Austin tip of the thumb.

Canada is right next door, takes me 5 pluss hrs to get to silver lake, and 3 to get to bull gap. It's amazing what you'll see while driving on the express way, everyonce in a while if your lucky you'll see colledge girls changing in the back of some cars.

The driving in bad axe is almost as bad as flint. Too many retards moving up here, and bringing there bad driving with them. Just don't let it get to ya too much. So far my favorite place to ride is bull gap. Dam work, couldn't get off to race at the fair tonight:ermm:

I guess I'll see if I can next year.

Atlanta and the U.P. are my next planned trips, Atlanta first most likely. Cousin owns a couple of houses up there, so I'd have a place to stay.

[JustRace]

I'm from crystal (about an hour north and then 20 minutes west of lansing). Loved riding at Silver Lake but just haven't gone in a real long time.

[nakomis0]

Does anyone have any info on this?

I heard there is a dirt bike MX track someplace that is now opening a few days up just for quads?

I have no other info on it. I wanna say its in the Lapeer area but not sure.

You also need tethers.

[MITrail400EX]

Not sure about the Lapeer area, but I know there is an MX track in Bay City. Its called something like Claerhout or something like that. My buddy just raced there on sunday. He did fairly well for his machine being BONE stock.

[nakomis0]

Thats probably it. I wanna check that out.

[laker_42]

Hey guys,
I am in Grand Rapids. After reading your posts on Bull Gap, I really want to try it out. Is it sandy enough to use paddles or not? I am trying to get a bunch of guys around to head up there for an all day ride. I think it is about a 3 hour drive for us. I am looking forward to it.

John

[ott]

I am in New Baltimore between Mt. clemens and Port huron.
As for paddles at the gap only on the hill.
No reason for them on the trails.

Also there is a motel in the town of Mio that you can stay at and ride your quads "responsibly " thru town , to the trail head which will take you right to the bull gap hill. Gas station to.
Its right on M-33 on the west side of the road . (If i knew the name I'd post it)

The trail from Pinks will take you 1/2 an hour if your moving to get to the hill.

[230Quadsport]

We need to get a bunch of people together to go riding before the summer is over. What does everyone think?

[ZSK]

Sounds good me and my buddy are planning to go any way, we want to go for the weekend, maybe camp at mack lake, it's a nice campground and about 2-3 miles off of the main trail.

[dasheek]

i am going to be going to bull gap next sat the 23 if anyone else is going to be there let me know. We park at the m-33 lot.

[trailwart]

that motel is called THE SONGBIRD MOTEL prices are around 40 a night if i remember right. anyways im from mt morris,home of the mounds. it sucks. just wondering how the maltby hills trail is. is there hill climb areas.

[Adam202]

Originally posted by trailwart
that motel is called THE SONGBIRD MOTEL prices are around 40 a night if i remember right. anyways im from mt morris,home of the mounds. it sucks. just wondering how the maltby hills trail is. is there hill climb areas.
i dont see why people dont like the mounds, cant handle the whoops? maybe i like it so much cause i have nowhere to ride :ermm: . the maltby hills area doesnt have alot of hills, theres a few here and there, and theres one your not supposed to go on but its alot bigger than bull gap.

[Adam202]

actually theres 2 your not supposed to go on, the one closest to south branch is small, fun to mess around on, but the one im talking is twice as big.

[trailwart]

im not saying the mounds suck for everyone, it sucks for me cause im burned out on it. plus its so small for when i take my bike out there. im goin to gladwin tomorrow, and thats whoop city. but i always have fun no matter where i go.