Reviewed by: Nick ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Midland's City Forest Single Track is a great system for anyone who wants a good ride in about an hour or so. With choices of the North Loop, South Loop, or creekside sections, you can pick your challenge. The North and South Loops tend to be bumpy at times but have many fast areas where you could really increase your overall average. The creekside section is a little over 3 miles and is technical. Many ups and downs make this a choice for the intermediate to more advanced rider.

Recommended Route:
From the Monroe Lot, follow signs to mountain bike trail and take North loop. You will reach a junction. Take the south loop until you reach another junction just before a bridge. Take a left before the bridge for a more technical ride along the creekside. You will eventually come back a bridge you crossed earlier and will come back to the first junction. This time, follow North loop signs to the final junction, where you will take a left to the Monroe Lot.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Pine Haven has a route similar to that of the City Forest. If you take a right turn about 1 or 2 miles in to the trail, you can gain access to the Stubway, a trail that leaves the park and goes off in

Reviewed by: Curt Peterson , from Midland

Summary:
Surprisingly enough there are short hills in this system that can get your heart pumping. Most people think of Midland as flat but the creek areathat runs thru the park has been utilized to provide for these hilly areas. This is a single track 8 mile total loop in a forested area that takes about an hr. to complete. There are some tricky side hill off camber turns and some exciting roller coaster type downhill then sharp up turns near the creek bed. The trail is well maintained and is now about 1 yr. old. The spring time wet areas were corrected with installation of over 18 bridglets and some sand/bark fill. Fall volunteer groups will hit the remaining low spots. This is mostly an intermediate trail with those shot sections of cranking uphills and a sand hill that only about 1 in 9 riders makes up. When really wet ( spring and fall after heavy rain) the ridges ajacent to the creek are quite slick due to clay. ) Beginners can walk the short steep downhills or offcamber side hill turns if necessary.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Burns Rd. area just north of Pine Haven park in sanford has 4 seperate tight single track trails that are rideable even in very wet weather and are also a joy to ride. Pine Haven also has a nice 5mile single track loop. Maps for all Midland County trails can be seen at Rays Bike Shop in downtown Midland. Out of towners can easily spend 2 days in the Midland areas riding these trails without redoing any of the loops and they are all nicely forested and with views of streams. Burns Rd. trails are more advanced while Pine Haven is intermediate like the new City Forest trail.

Reviewed by: Derek , from Midland

Summary:
This track is not too technical, it's on the faster side. It a nice ride to get in after work, it only takes an hour. Get the map at http://www.unixpertise.com/MMBA/mcfs.htm it is not always straight forward which way to go.

Recommended Route:
south loop then inner loop, total is about 12-13 miles.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Pine Haven Rec. area in Sanford, MI. For more technical riding there are trails that go out of the park.