Area offers best skiing options around

BY DAVID YARNELL VENTURE STAFF WRITER

For some of us, there’s nothing better than waking up on a mid-winter morning with temperatures in the teens and a fresh blanket of snow covering the area’s cross country ski trails.

Ken Blakey-Shell is one of the area’s top volunteers and frequent users of the area’s cross country ski and bicycle trails. Which trails does he consider to be the best in this part of Michigan?

“For skate skiing, Crystal Mountain is by far the best option, but the Manistee Trail Park is also very good,” he said. “The trail park is flat and beginner-friendly but has enough corners to be a great place to get in a quick ski if you are close by.”

Crystal Mountain, located on M-115 just north of the Manistee County line, has 50 downhill slopes and more than 25 miles of groomed cross country ski trails. More information is available at crystalmountain.com.

The Manistee Non-Motorized Trail Park is just east of Manistee on M-55. It has 3.8 miles of trail groomed for skate and classic skiing and 5.4 miles groomed for fat bikes.

“For classic skiing, Big M is a great option with a wide variety of skill level trails as well as great grooming,” Blakey-Shell said. “Crystal is another great place for classic cross country skiing. Its trails are just more open and wide so it’s a very different experience than Big M. Orchard Beach State Park has started grooming a few miles of classic trails as well."

The Big M Cross Country Ski and Mountain Biking Area is located in the Manistee National Forest 14 miles east of Manistee on M-55 then four miles south on Udell Hills Road. It offers almost 40 miles of trails. More information is available at skibigm.org.

Orchard Beach State Park is located on Lake Michigan just north of Manistee. It offers 2.5 miles of trails.

Which trails are Blakey-Shell’s favorites?

“For sure Big M is my favorite for classic and Crystal is my favorite for skating,” BlakeyShell said. “That said, the trail park is where I ski more than anywhere because it is so quick to get there and the conditions tend to consistently be pretty good compared to trails closer to the coastline.”

Among the newest developments in local ski trails is the addition of more trails in the Ludington Urban Singletrack System.

“That makes it so you can bounce between the different trails with less road riding,” he said, noting that those trails are in three areas just north of Ludington – Cartier Park, Memorial Tree Park and the Ludington School Forest. Further information is available at shorelinecyclingclub.com.

Blakey-Shell also noted that the Big M has a new equipment storage building and new ski and fat bike brooming implements which has improved the quality of grooming.

Other trail systems in the area include:

• 16 miles of trails at Ludington State Park, located on Lake Michigan five miles north of Ludington; • 10.1 miles of trails at MacKenzie Cross Country Ski Trails at Caberfae Peaks Ski and Golf, located on M-55 just east of the Manistee-Wexford county line; and • Eight areas for cross country skiing in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, located just north of Benzie County. VENTURE: FALL 2020