bagxlee

Good morning all.

My lady friend and I are wanting to do a [long] weekend camping trip / bike tour along lake Michigan. We'll be driving up from Indianapolis, so I'm not planning to venture up into the UP or anything like that. But does anybody have any suggestions on finding a good route / campsites that are 50-75 miles apart with a good view of the lake? Maybe starting somewhere around Grand Haven or a little more south?

I'm willing to buy the Adventure Cycling maps if that's what you guys recommend, but thought I'd check here first if you guys have a better resource.

Thanks and cheers!

Here's a picture, because everybody likes pictures!

dannwilliams

Repost in the touring forum, maybe get more responses there.

RepWI

I am considering a tour that would take me through a part of the area I believe you also are looking at. I found a journal over at Crazy Guy that may be useful to you. In the "Contact" section you will find some discussions David and I had about a route. Apparently there are many parks as well as trails if that is what you seek in this area: https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/p...id=187749&v=7D

DougG

I'm leaving for a week-long tour in SW Michigan in just a couple hours. If you're not in a hurry, I'll respond when I get back and can maybe get you a copy of the route guide for the Michigan Shoreline West tour that pretty well covers that ride and stays close to the lake all the way from about Muskegon to Mackinaw. I rode it last summer and had a blast!

bagxlee

Thanks Doug, that'd be great if you could report back with a good route!

We're not going until mid Sept, so we've got plenty of time to nail down our journey.

Thanks for the help! Cheers.

DougG

A good bet for you would be to go to the League of Michigan Bicyclists site (lmb.org) and order one of their map book for a past Shoreline West event. This will give you the best possible cycle-friendly routes, many of which would be difficult to find on your own. For example, north of Traverse City they have ways to avoid as much as possible routing you along the super-busy US-31, using county roads that are also more interesting (and hillier!).

The Michigander, by the way, was brutal for me due to the weather (camping conditions were worse than riding in the heat & humidity!), and I ended up calling my wife and asking to be rescued halfway through -- a decision that I definitely do not regret, as it was getting worse as the week went on.

bagxlee

Thanks for the link, Doug. That's exactly what I was looking for. Cheers

DavidW56

I have never done a tour; however, while vacationing near Petoskey a few days ago, I rode the Little Traverse Wheelway from Bay Harbor to Harbor Springs. I recommend this highly. This is a very very nice paved bike path with some spectacular views of the bay. There is also camping available next to the Wheelway at the township park and also the state park in Petoskey.