Southwest: T.K. Lawless

[Todd Scott]

Post trail conditions and problem reports for the trails at T.K. Lawless

[skibum157]

I rode Lawless on 5/01 and even after a rain the night before, it was in great condition. The soil needed the rain as it was getting rather dry. The section that had been closed all of last summer is now open and it makes the trail over 10 miles again. Gates are open at sunrise so have a great ride.

[mtbyker]

Rode on Fri. 5/7 and couldn't believe all the storm damage. At least 15 places we had to carry over/around trees. More bad luck for T.K. Lawless.

[Tork Dog]

I am gonna be in Michigan this weekend, any chance of getting onto TK? So whats with all this damage and fallen trees? Perhaps they need to clear cut a bit and get rid of all the dead wood?

www.torkdog.com

[Briana]

You can ride TK, it is fine, you may just have to go around a few trees, but it is much better than it has been in the past years and and old section of trail has been re-opened!

[Steve_Kinley]

Robert received a report today from the TK park ranger who has the majority of newly downed trees cleaned up. The rest should be completed by today.

[Briana]

Avoid this trail for a few days, it doesn't drain well and is very slick and muddy, it is the 22nd today, if there is no rain in the next few days, it should be good by the 24th.

[Coop]

I tried to ride TK on Mon the 24th...still pretty muddy. If you ride it, be careful how you're effecting the terrain. If you have the right tires and technique, then it's probably rideable.

It was too slick for my tastes so I ended up just doing a road ride around the area. It's pretty cool when you can do a 10 mile ride, hit 30 mph on a winding downhill, challenge yourself on some nasty uphills, and only see 6 cars the whole time. If you're in the area, try a road ride down Walnut street or Calvin Ceter road.

[Coop]

I took a slow ride around the whole 9 miles last night. Everything on high ground is very dry - I didn't leave any tracks. But there are about 15 low spots where there are deep mud pits about 3 feet in diameter. The good thing is, the trail is so open that none of them snuck up on me. I had plenty of time to dismount and walk.
I don't think it ever rained last night like it was supposed to, so it should be ok to ride friday and saturday (rain sunday). Just watch out for the puddles.


There were tons of animals on the trail as well; way more than I usually see. 2 snakes, 2 beavers, a ton of squirrels and chipmunks, and a deer. There were even deer tracks going down the near vertical drop off in the second half (the one with 2 arrows pointing down). That's one hardcore deer!

[Tork Dog]

Hope the rain holds out, i plan on hitting TK early sunday morning. I will keep my eyes peeled for the hard ass deer.

www.torkdog.com

[Stevet]

I biked the trail today - it was pretty muddy but doable. There is one section where flood waters are up to the pedals, but it is relatively short.

[Tork Dog]

If my bike is back from the shop today I am hitting TK for a quick spin on saturday morning. Any updates on the trails? Its been dry around here (south burbs of chicago) how has the weather been up in Michigan?

[Coop]

It's been hot and dry (well, humid but no rain) for the past few days so most of TK should be dry. A few spots will be slick...and watch out for all the sand. It seems there's a lot more on the trail than usual. Erosion issues maybe?

Saturday looks like an amazing day to ride...70 and sunny! If you're coming all the way from Chicago I suggest driving a little further one day to check out Winona Lake if you haven't already. Read about it at nimbabike.org

[cerberus81]

Trail was fast but had muddy spots occassionally. Brush is growing over the trail quite a bit. The thorns will tear up your arms in a major way! If you have a fetish for cutting yourself, ride it! If not, wear a long jersey!

[Tork Dog]

As cerberus81 stated wear long everything! I had on a cheapo biking wind breaker so my arms were ok, however my hands and legs are torn to shreds along with a healthy scrape just below my left eye. That being said I rode on Saturday and the trail was in good shape. I think about 3 sections were a bit muddy but it was a good fast ride. I will be up there again in a few weeks, taking this coming weekend for a nice long ride up at the Kettle Moraine in WI