Trails near Charlevoix

[DeJ]

I’ll be in Charlevoix this weekend for a wedding and going to try to squeeze in a ride Saturday morning. Looking for a faster, hilly, good workout type of ride (need to get some Iceman training in).

Is Boyne Mountain the best option nearby?

Also, with Boyne, the trail map on their website shows a green, red and blue loop, each 9/10 miles. Is there a preferred loop?

[ibike]

Boyne Mountain's trail markings aren't the greatest; if you can follow the trails, you will get some of what you're looking for.

You will be about equal distance from 2 good north country trail sections, more enjoyable options than Boyne in my opinion. NCT would be an out and back ride.

NCT heading north from the corner of South Slashing and Thumb Lake Road (near Boyne Falls) - fast and flowy at the start, larger hills the farther you go north. Lots of fun.

NCT heading north from Kipp Rd (near Kipp/Hathaway intersection in Petoskey) - lots of longer climbs and fast and flowy stuff also. More sustained climbs and descents than Boyne or NCT Slashing section. Bigger hills than on the Iceman course, but good training and fun none the less.

[Mack]

+1 on the Kipp RD NCT. One of my favorite NCT sections. That first climb can be a mofo...but knowing that
you get to ride down it to finish the ride it well worfth it .

[jalopy jockey]

Boyne Mountain and Avalance mountain are the only loops close by. The NCT segements are great but a bit more desolate. If the the ride solo not found for hours thing is a factor go to Boyne.

As someone mentioned earlier Boyne markings are sometimes missing/overgrown. I just take the path most traveled in most cases and it's a fun loop. The loops use common segemnts so it's easy to mix and match until the end. Then I take red if in a hurry blue or green if I have more time.

[DeJ]

Thanks for the info everyone, very helpful. I’m going to try to check out the NCT if I have enough time, but will mostly likely have to play it safe and ride Boyne (I'm in the wedding so I can't stray to far).

Funny how one of the first things I think about with every trip is: are there trails nearby, can I take the bike, do I have time to ride…

[MMMHills]

Boyne Mountain's trail markings aren't the greatest; if you can follow the trails, you will get some of what you're looking for.

You will be about equal distance from 2 good north country trail sections, more enjoyable options than Boyne in my opinion. NCT would be an out and back ride.

NCT heading north from the corner of South Slashing and Thumb Lake Road (near Boyne Falls) - fast and flowy at the start, larger hills the farther you go north. Lots of fun.

NCT heading north from Kipp Rd (near Kipp/Hathaway intersection in Petoskey) - lots of longer climbs and fast and flowy stuff also. More sustained climbs and descents than Boyne or NCT Slashing section. Bigger hills than on the Iceman course, but good training and fun none the less.

This is exactly what I would tell you.

The other option is to ride the Iceman course. What time do you have to be back and how fast are you?