Northern Michigan is great and all, but you really don’t have to go “up north” to find beautiful places to ride. Tunnels of trees, bucolic farmland, glacial hills, sapphire-blue lakes, meandering rivers: mid-Michigan has them all. This section will feature a growing list of scenic bike rides, some on roads and some on the region’s many bike paths, all within about an hour’s drive of Lansing (and perhaps a bit farther afield).
I’m always open to tips! Feel free to leave your suggestions for your favorite scenic bike rides in the comment section below.
The Routes
I’ve posted three scenic rides so far, with more to come. (And it’s not like there’s no scenery on the hilly rides, especially the Augusta Hills ride near Battle Creek.) Check out the list below, or you can find an excerpt of each route description here.
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Dappled light along the Falling Waters Trail Mason-Dansville Loop: 27.5 miles; road ride through rolling forest and farmland
- Falling Waters Trail: West of Jackson; 9, 13, or 22 miles; lakes and forest on a paved bike path
- Gull Lake Loop: Ross Township near Battle Creek; 12 miles; lakefront views, W.K. Kellogg Manor House
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