Recap: Petoskey, MI Gravel Adventure
Family vacations make great excuses for exploring new areas on the bike. I was heading to the Petoskey, MI area for a week to attend a wedding and—knowing how much great gravel there is in Michigan (seriously, have you seen GravelMap for the state?!)—I started looking for routes. We weren’t going to be far from Boyne City, which I knew had been the site of the now defunct Michigan Mountain Mayhem Gravel Grinder (they still run a road ride if that’s your cup of tea). After a bit of searching, I found some of their old routes on RideWithGPS. As luck would have it, our AirBnB was about an eighth of a mile off the course!
Anyone who knows Michigan gravel knows it can come with a healthy dose of sand. I tried to do some research and asked around on the Michigan Gravel Grinders Facebook group and heard everything from “it’s not that bad” to “I’d never ride that route again”! I took my hardtail plus-size MTB (3” tire) as a result, and I think it was the right choice. I only walked one hill of deep sand; had I been on my gravel bike, there would have been more pushing.
With a name like “Mountain Mayhem” the route (linked at bottom) actually doesn’t have as much climbing as we’re used to with most Ohio gravel. It’s only in the 50ft/mi range, half of what a hilly OH gravel ride would have. That being said, it’s definitely the hilliest of the areas I’ve ridden in Michigan and there were some nice, long sustained climbs. The elevation changes also resulted in some very nice views!
The first of these climbs comes less than 4 miles in and averages about 3.5% for almost 3 miles. You get your first taste of gravel on the way up, and then continue on gravel at the top. You’ll pass a trailhead for the North Country Trail, which is the longest trail in the National Trails System, stretching 4,800 miles across eight states from North Dakota to Vermont! Not long after there are some serious no trespassing signs for US government property; not sure what that was all about. This road turns into what is signed as a “groomed snowmobile trail”, but it’s a wide dirt road. Around mile 7 it gets deep and sandy; this is where I walked.
From here the route combines a bit more pavement with “standard” gravel roads in a nice mix. You’ll get some nice views as you pass through some farmland of the surrounding “mountains”, including the ski slopes to the south. Right at mile 25 is when the first section of true Michigan “Seasonal Road” occurs and its a doozie. A leg-sapping, mile long, sandy climb at 5% kicks it off. You then head right back down for the same grade/length as you came up, again through deep sand. It felt like I was surfing at times! Right after this you go back onto pavement and head up the final big climb of the day (not gravel, despite what the map says) on Chandler Hill Road. It’s almost 2 miles long and over 5%, which was quite a workout with my heavy MTB.
Just past mile 30 you get back on to gravel, which is constant for about the next 15 miles. This is definitely the highlight of the route. You’ll head through the Gaylord State Forest Area on mostly hard-packed dirt that was easy to speed along on while passing through a beautiful, remote tunnel of trees. There are endless two-tracks and roads going off in every direction; you could spend a lot of time exploring here. Be warned, though, there is definitely unrideable sand to be found, as I discovered and re-routed around! The last roughly 10 miles of the route are back to more “standard” gravel roads with small sections of pavement, the exception being a section of grassy-two track from about miles 41-42.
The route I’ve shared on the site starts at the Tanton MTB trails, which are also worth your time while you’re in the area. They are definitely rideable on a gravel bike, as the surfaces are smooth. The trails are very flow-y and not technical; those that are marked as advanced seem to have that designation due to the amount of climbing, not tricky features. There are no services on the route, but you can add distance to head into Boyne City or Boyne Falls if desired. Also note that the eastern portion of the route is quite remote, so be prepared to take care of yourself.