Waterloo-Pinckney Trail | |
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Length | 36 mi (58 km) |
Location | Jackson / Washtenaw counties, Michigan, USA |
Trailheads | Portage Lake, Michigan; Silver Lake, Michigan |
Use | Hiking, some sections- Horseback riding, Bicycling |
Difficulty | Moderate |
Sights | Diverse environmental, glacial-formed landscape, and wetlands of the Lower Peninsula of southern Michigan, United States. |
The Waterloo-Pinckney Trail is a 38-mile-long hiking trail which runs through Waterloo State Recreation Area and Pinckney Recreation Area in southeastern Michigan, United States. Part of the trail also passes through Park Lyndon County Park. The trail travels through glacial features such as eskers and kettle lakes as well as swamps and open meadows remaining from abandoned farmlands. Forest types include oak and pine. The trail tops out at 1,128 feet (344 m) on Sackrider Hill, 208 feet (63 m) above surroundings, the largest elevation gain. Other hills and ridges give 50-to-150-foot (15 to 46 m) rises. The trail is blazed with blue triangles and at some points shares trails with the Potawatomi Trail and the nature trails around the Eddy Discovery Center. Part of the trail is open to mountain biking and horseriding and hunting is allowed in most areas along the trail. The trail has several nearby campgrounds allowing it to be hiked as a 2, 3 or 4 day trip. Side trails to the campgrounds make the entire trip 40.5 miles (65.2 km). [1] The trail was first developed in the 1960s and the last link across the county park was completed in 1986.
Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. Its population was 160,366 as of the 2020 Census. The county seat is Jackson. The county was set off in 1829 and organized in 1832. It is named for U.S. President Andrew Jackson and considered to be one of Michigan's "Cabinet counties", named for members of Jackson's Cabinet.
Hamburg Township is a civil township of Livingston County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the township population was 21,165. It is the most populated municipality in Livingston County.
Morrow Mountain State Park is a state park in Stanly County, North Carolina, U.S. Located near Albemarle, the park includes 5,881 acres (23.80 km2) within the Uwharrie Mountains.
The Oregon Coast Trail (OCT) is a long-distance hiking route along the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of Oregon in the United States. It follows the coast of Oregon from the mouth of the Columbia River to the California border south of Brookings.
The Long Path is a 357-mile (575 km) long-distance hiking trail beginning in New York City, at the West 175th Street subway station near the George Washington Bridge and ending at Altamont, New York, in the Albany area. While not yet a continuous trail, relying on road walks in some areas, it nevertheless takes in many of the popular hiking attractions west of the Hudson River, such as the New Jersey Palisades, Harriman State Park, the Shawangunk Ridge and the Catskill Mountains. It offers hikers a diversity of environments to pass through, from suburbia and sea-level salt marshes along the Hudson to wilderness and boreal forest on Catskill summits 4,000 feet (1,220 m) in elevation.
Taconic State Park is located in Columbia and Dutchess County, New York abutting Massachusetts and Connecticut within the Taconic Mountains. The state park is located off New York State Route 344 south of Interstate 90 and 110 miles (180 km) north of New York City. It features camping, hiking, bicycling, hunting, cross county skiing and other recreational opportunities.
The Crystal Lake Recreation Area is located in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California, administered by the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument of the United States Forest Service. The Recreation Area consists of a small lake, an open-air amphitheater, a large public campground containing approximately 120 camp sites grouped into "loops," and a group campground called Deer Flats which consists of approximately 25 camp sites. The Recreation Area contains a United States Forest Service visitor center and a cafe which is open to the public from dawn to dusk except for Tuesdays when the cafe is closed. Within the Recreation Area are 16 hiking and nature trails which are well-maintained by volunteers who work under the direction of the Forest Service. The Recreation Area is located approximately 26 miles (42 km) north on Hwy. 39 heading out of Azusa, California at the headwaters of the north fork of the San Gabriel River at an elevation approximately 5,539 feet above sea level. Crystal Lake is the only naturally occurring lake in the San Gabriel Mountains.
Lakelands Trail State Park, officially the Mike Levine Lakelands Trail State Park since January 20, 2017, is a state park in Michigan that runs east-west from southwest of Munith to Hamburg Township, Michigan. It is a multi-use trail converted from abandoned railroad corridors. According to the Michigan DNR web site, the north side of the trail is for hiking and biking, and the south side is for horseback riding. Based on the latest published DNR map the trail is 31.9 miles (51.3 km) long with the surface from Hawkins Rd. southwest of Munith to west of Pinckney composed of sections of crushed limestone, slag and sand, or unimproved. 10 miles (16 km) are paved in Hamburg Township from the first intersection with M-36 west of Pinckney to end of the park east of the Hamburg Rd. trailhead. A paved section of trail also extends from the edge of the park east of Hamburg Rd. to the west side of Whitmore Lake Rd., just south of its intersection with 9 Mile Rd in Green Oak Township.
South Higgins Lake State Park is a public recreation area covering 1,000 acres (400 ha) on the southern shore of Higgins Lake five miles southwest of Roscommon in Roscommon County, Michigan. The state park occupies one mile of shoreline on Higgins Lake and entirely surrounds Marl Lake and portions of the Cut River.
Holly River State Park is a state park located in Webster County, West Virginia. Situated on the Left Fork of the Holly River near the town of Hacker Valley, it is the second largest park in the West Virginia state park system with a total of 8,294 acres (3,356 ha). The park features over 42 miles (68 km) of hiking trails, ten vacation cabins, an 88-unit campground, and many recreation and picnic areas.
Red Hills State Park is an Illinois state park on 967 acres (391 ha) in Lawrence County, Illinois, United States. The park sits at an elevation of 515 feet (157 m). Red Hills State Park is open for year-round recreation including boating, fishing, hunting, hiking and various winter sports. The park includes a restaurant which is open year-round and has banquet facilities.
Kickapoo State Recreation Area is an Illinois state park on 2,842 acres (1,150 ha) in Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. Located between Oakwood, Illinois and Danville, Illinois, this park is easily accessible through route I-74. It is 28 miles (45 km) away from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and 95 miles (153 km) from Indianapolis. According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the name Kickapoo originated from the Kickapoo village that once existed near the junction of the Salt Fork and Middle Fork branches of the Vermilion River. After Europeans settled in the area and displaced the Native Americans, the Europeans began to dig wells to harvest salt from salt springs, called salines. In the early 20th century the land was then strip-mined for coal. Kickapoo State Park was the first park in the United States to be located on strip-mined land. The state of Illinois purchased the Kickapoo State Park Area in 1939 with donation money from Danville residents and the land has since recovered from the extraction of these resources.
Pinckney State Recreation Area is a Michigan state recreation area in Dexter, Sylvan and Lyndon Townships, Washtenaw County and Putnam and Unadilla Townships, Livingston County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The park is 11,000 acres (4,500 ha) and sits at an elevation of 922 feet (281 m). The park is connected to the nearby Waterloo State Recreation Area by the 35-mile (56 km) Waterloo–Pinckney Trail. Pinckney State Recreation Area is open for year-round recreation including hiking, fishing, swimming, hunting and a variety of winter sports.
Royalston Falls is a 50 foot (15 m) waterfall and granite gorge located in Royalston, Massachusetts along Falls Brook, a tributary of the Tully River which in turn is a tributary of the Millers River. The falls are part of a 217-acre (88 ha) open space preserve acquired in 1951 by the land conservation non-profit organization The Trustees of Reservations. The 22-mile (35 km) Tully Trail and the 110-mile (180 km) Metacomet-Monadnock Trail, a National Recreation Trail, pass through the property.
Waterloo State Recreation Area is the third-largest park in Michigan, encompassing over 21,000 acres (85 km2) of forest, lakes and wetlands. Located in northeast Jackson County and parts of Washtenaw County, the park is the largest in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and features 4 campgrounds, 11 lakes, a nature center, and over 50 miles (80 km) of trails - some for horses, bicycles, hiking and cross-country skiing. Waterloo SRA includes the Black Spruce Bog Natural Area, a National Natural Landmark and borders the 11,000-acre (45 km2) Pinckney Recreation Area on the east and the 950-acre (3.8 km2) Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Audubon Sanctuary to the west. The land preserved by the park is not all contiguous and numerous private landholdings and roads run through the park area. The area is characterized by moraines, kettle lakes, swamps and bogs left by retreating glaciers after the last ice age. The park was created by the federal government during the Great Depression and is long-term leased to the state.
Brighton State Recreation Area is an 4,947-acre (20.02 km2) recreation area, located near Mount Brighton ski area in Livingston County, Michigan. It has 39 miles of trails for mountain biking, hiking, skiing and horse riding. There are 3 campgrounds providing over 200 campsites. It is also close to many other state parks, such as Pinckney State Recreation Area.
The Glacial Drumlin State Trail is a multipurpose rail trail in the U.S. State of Wisconsin. It stretches 52 miles (84 km) from Waukesha to Cottage Grove. The trail travels through or near the Wisconsin communities of Cottage Grove, Deerfield, London, Lake Mills, Jefferson, Helenville, Sullivan, Dousman, Genesee, Wales, and Waukesha. In Lake Mills, it crosses Rock Lake on one of its many old railroad bridges. The trail was opened in 1986 and follows the old Chicago and North Western Railway (C&NW) Madison–Milwaukee mainline.
Deam Lake State Recreation Area is an Indiana State Recreation Area in Clark County, Indiana in the United States. The park is 1,300 acres (530 ha) and sits at an elevation of 535 feet (163 m). Deam Lake State Recreation area is open for year-round recreation, however the campground closes each year from the Sunday before Thanksgiving to March 1 of the following year. Much of the recreation is centered on Deam Lake. It is named for Charles C. Deam, the first state forester of Indiana.
Doughton Park is the largest recreation area the National Park Service manages on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is located between mile markers 238.5 - 244.7 on the border between Wilkes and Alleghany Counties in North Carolina. Doughton Park consists of highland meadows with numerous scenic overlooks, miles of hiking and bridle trails, areas for camping and cookouts, and it is one of the few areas on the Parkway that has a restaurant along with an adjacent visitors center maintained by the National Park Service. Elevations in Doughton Park generally range from 3,500 to 4,000 feet. The park is named after North Carolina politician Robert L. Doughton, who lived in nearby Laurel Springs, North Carolina and who as a US Congressman played a key role in the creation of the Blue Ridge Parkway in the 1930s.
Green Lake is a fresh water lake located in northwest Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The lake encompasses 90.5 acres (36.6 ha). It is located entirely within Lyndon Township about five miles (8.0 km) northwest of the city of Chelsea along M-52. The lake is located within Waterloo State Recreation Area along the northeastern edge of the park's boundaries near Pinckney State Recreation Area.
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