I recently spent time in Interlochen, Michigan, just outside of Traverse City. While it’s know mostly for the Interlochen Center for the Arts, it also has one of Michigan’s first state parks and miles of great roads and trails.

We stayed at the state park. Our original intentions were to camp in a tent, until I saw the tee pee rentals for only $30. It was darn cool lodging despite the fact that Michigan Indian’s didn’t live in tee pees, We had a great view of the lake and it kept out most of the torrential rain.

As for riding, the roads around Interlochen are great until you start getting too close to the busier Traverse City area. Many of the major state roads had paved shoulders.

I also hit the trails both on bike and foot. The Lost Lake Pathway just north of Interlochen was a decent, flat, and sometimes sandy trail. Further northwest was the Lake Ann Pathway, which was a lot of fun to ride — more hills and less sand. I’d cross country skied part of this trail back in January.  It was pretty straightforward riding between the two trails and including a rest stop in the interesting Lake Ann general store.

And, I did head to the southwest and briefly rode on the Platte River snowmobile trail (very sandy) and Betsie Valley trail.

I could have spent a week up here exploring.