Bicycle, ski or hike Mackenzie Pathway

Trails are clearly signed with numbers at junctions. Photo by Joan Young.

By Joan Young, MCP Contributor

Just west of Cadillac, and seasonally connected by a spur to Caberfae Ski Resort, is the Mackenzie Pathway within the Manistee National Forest. Arranged in loops convenient for skiing, there are a total of about 25 unique miles of trails.

Trails are mostly wide and level from side-to-side, designed for cross-country skiers. Bicyclists and skiers are advised to follow the trails in the posted direction for safety. Snowshoeing is allowed, but stay beside rather than on groomed trails.

Overall, the difficulty of hiking or cycling is only moderate despite the close proximity to Caberfae. The entire trail system lies within a lower area, with the Caberfae ridge to the east and a line of bluffs beyond Johnson Creek to the west.

This does not imply that the trails are flat, but neither is the terrain as challenging as the hills that can be found within some other West Michigan loop trail systems.

Some of the landscape along the trail. Photo by Joan Young.

Of course, the lack of elevation change means you won’t find any tremendous views, but what you can enjoy at the right time of year is spring wildflowers. Many areas of the Manistee National Forest are mesic uplands—dry woods dominated by oak and pine. Flowers are often limited to species such as blueberry, wintergreen, and trailing arbutus. Not that these aren’t interesting, but the soil at Mackenzie is richer. The topographic map suggests to me that in a past era, Johnson Creek was much larger, filling a floodplain with humic soil before draining to Peterson Creek and then to the Manistee River at Tippy Dam Pond. Now the creeks are confined to their banks.

The rich soil supports the variety of flowers we love to find in season: ramps, hepatica, trout lilies, spring beauty, dutchman’s breeches, trillium, and more. And that season is probably right now! Green leaves were just poking through the winter layer of brown-and-down leaves when I was there in mid-April.

Perhaps the most scenic of the trails is on the west side when you leave the trailhead to go along Johnson Creek, although to actually see the creek you need to walk to the bluff edge and look into the gully. A small unnamed peak is visible across the stream to the west.

If you continually make choices at junctions that cause you to follow the outermost loop, you’ll have traveled just over five miles when you return to the trailhead. Many shorter loops are possible, and by combining connections, even doing a bit of backtracking, an outing can be created that can net many more miles.

Junctions are clearly marked with locator maps and numbers. The pathways to the next junction are signed with a numbered post and an arrow.

A large trailhead and parking area can accommodate multiple vehicles. There is a standard Forest Service latrine which is handicap accessible if you can make it over rough ground and a one-inch lip to the concrete slab. The Forest Service pass or America the Beautiful pass is required for parking.

No camping or campfires are permitted at the trailhead, but dispersed camping is allowed deeper within the pathway system. Normal rules apply: you must be more than 200 feet from the trail or from a water source. This would accommodate bike or walk-in camping only. In other words, an overnight backpack or bike-pack trek would be possible here. It is recommended you take the water you will need as the streams carry run-off from the Caberfae ski village. Filtering is of course an option.

Turn north off M-55 on 13 Road. Continue for 2.3 miles and turn west on 38 Road. The trailhead is on the left in another mile at 44.249937 -85.733885, and is clearly marked with the typical brown and beige trapezoidal Forest Service sign.

Whether you prefer to bicycle, ski, snowshoe or hike, Mackenzie Pathway offers lots of relatively easy trails to enjoy in any season.

A pdf map of the trails is available at https://s26514.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Trail-Map-from-Caberfae.pdf.  Contact the author at jhyshark@gmail.com.

White hepatica blooming in mid-April. Photo by Joan Young.

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