Great Lakes Bay Regional Trail - A Rail Trail in Progress

Bay County to Saginaw County Connection

Bridge over a Saginaw River tributary near Stony Island.

The Bay County to Saginaw County Connection, part of the Great Lakes Bay Regional Trail, starts from Bay City's west side along the Saginaw River toward Zilwaukee, or Saginaw County. The trail begins as an overgrown two track path instead of the expected abandoned railroad bed with an occasional railroad tie poking up through the dirt. Bushwhacking through the thick weeds, branches and mosquitos finally takes you to a river crossing over a refurbished trestle. After the trestle, the trail continues over freshly laid gravel and on to a second river crossing near Stony Island where the historic Skull Island Massacre took place just to the north.

The beginning. A rail trail?

The connection transforms through various stages.

Or a path?

Two track. And plenty of Stealth Camping opportunities...

Freshly laid and rolled stone. Progress.

Turns back to two track.

Wildlife abounds.

Approximately halfway through the connection the trail peters out. From here the trail is incomplete and I followed the alternate route - if the proposed rail trail along the river is not secured. Hopefully the alternate route won't be used since it is simply a utility road through a wildlife refuge. While riding on this straight two track I came upon two hunters who were sighting in a rifle along the path and I feared getting a stray bullet in the head...

Alternate route through Crow Island State Game Area.

The alternate route isn't very scenic - hopefully the connection will follow the rail line along the river. 

The connection ends near the Zilwaukee Bridge seen in the far distance.

More Bike lane issues

Two days ago, December 9th, I received confirmation from The City of Bay City that they completed my request to clean the bike lanes which I submitted on, wait for it... November 13th.

So yesterday I decided to check up on this progress, since I use the bike lane four or five times a week, and saw what is seen in the top photo.

Bike Lane Issues

The Saginaw River separates my hometown of Bay City, Michigan and four draw bridges allow access to the east and west banks of that river. Problem is, only one of those bridges, Liberty Bridge, has a bike lane and the city has a very low priority of keeping those two lanes clear from snow, broken glass and all other sort of debris, despite the growing number of year-round cyclists.

Although the city has a webpage to report such issues within the community, it took exactly one week and three separate requests before the city responded to clean the bike lanes.