william field memorial hart-montague trail

The Rail Trail is getting resurfaced in 2015. This should make the ride smoother for everyone. Very nice trail. You can spend one hour or all day. Places to stop and eat along the way. Not too much traffic from road crossings.

Beautiful bike/walking trail that is being refurbished this year with the help of funding from the state of Michigan...thank you Senator Geoff Hansen!

When I grew up the trail was the tracks. I miss the train, but the trail is great. A few spots have bumps, but the solitude, the trees, the fields and the great views are wonderful. Head to Mears from Hart and head downtown to pick up a snack, or keep going to Shelby and New Era for a bite to eat, maybe even ice cream at Country Dairy. Just go for a ride, you'll love it.

Didn't have to worry about the traffic. Some areas of the trail were a little bumpy with the breaks in the sidewalks.

We had an all ages group and rented our bikes from The Wood Shed in Mears. By the way, those folks could not have been more helpful. The bikes were all in excellent condition. We had a wonderful time biking the Hart Montague Bike Trail and would highly recommend it.

I rented a bike at the Book Nook and Java Shop and took to the trail, and it was amazing. Anyone with even the slightest inclination for good eco-friendly and outdoorsy touring must -- simply must -- take the opportunity to bike this trail.It was once a rail line that is now decommisioned and open as a State Park and Hike and Bike Trail. It is off limit to motorized vehicles, so you don't have to worry about being hit by a semi. Just be sure to abide by all of the bicycle traffic signs.The scenery is amazing. You get a non-road, non-touristy view of the backbone of towns that go up the Western Michigan coast line. Vast stretches of green, deep forests with wildflowers showing you the way and various species and forms of butterflies share the trial with you. There are excellent stops on the way, including restaurants and pit stops (gas stations), in addition to the towns that dot the path. There is also a Dairy on the path in New Era, Michigan, where you can cool off, get a refreshment and a tour of a working dairy!The path is well kept concrete, and even the few bridges are bicycle friendly. Instead of rattling along loose boards, there are rubber tracks running down the middle for the best traction and smooth riding.Can't say enough about this. What a great way to leave the motor and the burning gas and money and take to the trails with human power, money-saving, Earth-friiendly locomotion and spectacular sight seeing in this little part of the country.Do it!

A group of us went on a 12 mile ride and it was really pretty and we will be going back for sure. The trees were grown over the path so it was like riding through a green tunnel.

This maybe the oldest rail trail in the state of Michigan. Sadly it does show if you are using a road bike. There are a lot of bumps/cracks in the pavement, and snowmobile studs have ripped up the center track a bit. But it should not stop you from hitting this trail. Mountain bikes will not even notice the bumps. I've done several 100 mile century rides using this trail, and it offers a safe, and low elevation change trip with some great scenery along the way.

Tgistrail now runs from Hart to the MMichigans Adventure theme park south of Whitehall, passing by parks, through woods and natural areas, as well as through the quaint little town of Montague past the weathervane, white lake, past art exhibits in the woods, paved and smooth, particularly smooth south of Montague with newer pavement there more suitable to rollerblading as well as bikes/walking. Miniature Golf course in Montague, ice cream shops, the Montague campground, numerous shops, restaurants, and boutiques are all along the trail. Free to use. Enjoy!

Great way to walk, bike and even snowmobile. Smooth and pleasant atmosphere. Used it many times. They add on, so it stretches a good distance now.

I could not imagine how a trail in this hilly area could be flat but everyone said it was. I rode this trail twice while visiting the area. The first time I started outside of Shelby rode to Hart and back. This portion of the trail seemed to be pretty well maintained and easy to ride until you got closer to Hart. The portion near Hart got pretty bumpy but it still was not bad. The scenery was always pretty and kept me interested. I actually parked at a Mexican Restaurant called Lupitas with the owners permission and when we got back from the ride we had to have lunch there. Food was amazing but that is another review all together.The next day we went back and again parked at Lupitas and then rode the other direction towards Montague. The trail was again well maintained and this direction had more cities to ride through and much more to see. New Era was fun to ride through but the big attraction was the Dairy. The Dairy made for a fun stop but I would like to have had more time to explore.Overall the ride was great and I discovered many other attractions that I would like to visit another time. Lupitas was so good that we ate there both days after the ride...and I highly recommend parking there for a good meal after a hard ride.

I live and work in Whitehall and during the nicer months, I ride my bike to work every day on this trail. During the weekends and evenings, I go for longer rides. Sometimes I take the grandkids with and we stop at the mini golf place in Montague for a quick round of mini golf followed by an ice cream. There are two places in Montague near the trail to buy ice cream. I also take my little girls (my yorkie dogs) on long walks on the trail Usually without incident, but I have started to carry pepper spray because we once saw a loose dog. He did not bother us but it was a little scary with him popping out and scaring my dogs. I ended up carrying my babies until someone called the dog back. The trail is mostly shaded in the area I usually travel so it's cooler on hot days.

The Hart Montague trail has some other offshoot trails but this 26 mile stretch is a beautiful trail. Walk, snowshoe, hike, bike....It runs through woodland, rural farms, and small towns. Stop along the trail at Country Dairy, near New Era, for a quick refreshment at this unique large Dairy farm that has a little store near the trail.I went geocaching along the trail.