Trail Report: Palmer Woods, Michigan

Every summer my family goes to North West Michigan to visit family and escape the summer heat in Atlanta. I really can’t recommend it enough.

We always bring bikes, and normally I’ll ride in Ludington (see my trail report on the trails there). This year we journeyed a bit farther north to Glen Arbor, where I was able to ride the Palmer Woods trails.

If you haven’t been to this part of the world, imagine the perfect weather (warm but not hot in the day, cool at night), a perfect lake, some perfect fish for lunch, and more berries than you realized a person over the age of 4 could eat.

The terrain is glaciated ridges and dunes. Steep, sandy, covered in forest.

Palmer Woods houses 15ish miles of stellar cross country trail. Flowy, occasionally rowdy, fast. It’s set up and marked quite well, and it’s easy to navigate and put together different lengths of rides. These are easily the best trails I’ve ridden in my limited Michigan experience. If you were looking at a summer lake vacation, the area around this is worth selecting and bringing a bike for.