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Manistee River Trail/North Country Trail
We started from the Seaton Creek campground, hoping to pick up an official trail map, but there were none besides the laminated one on the post marking the start of the trail. There was a 1.3-mile connecting trail that was not evident on the map, but the path was obvious. There seems to be some guesswork involved on the “official” mileage, we hiked 45 minutes past the suspension bridge and thought we had passed campsites 3 and 4, so made our camp at a site with logs set up for benches. The next day brought us to camp 3 within 5 minutes; we could see last nights’ campsite just upriver! The view at camp 3 is from a bluff overlooking the river, quite nice. Camp 4 is just a stone’s throw away across a creek, we could hear voices from campers when we camped there 2 night’s later. There is a well-worn path leading away (and uphill!) from the river at campsite 4, but it is not part of the trail! The trail markers down river give out here for a while for some unknown reason, and the actual trail continues right through campsite 4 and down an unlikely-looking path along the river, where the trail markers pick up again. The rest of the trail is adequately marked, but this critical junction was not. Two day’s later, someone had spray painted a tree to resemble the official silver markers, but a marker on the far side of camp 4 would be helpful. The upriver path is marked well. The path is relatively new, frequently sandy, with very few roots to trip over and almost no stones. We usually hike in W. Va. or Pa, so the lack of stones on the path and in the river is noteworthy. The next “official” numbered campsites came up quicker than we expected, although we somehow missed a few (perhaps they looked like unofficial campsites, the only way you can tell is the official ones have a cast iron fire ring and a 3-foot pole in the ground with the camp number on it.) The disparity between the official distance between the camps and what we observed made us skeptical of the official mileage, born out later by what we have read. The Hutchins guide is supposed to have accurate mileage’s taken with a measuring wheel, I wonder how the official map got it’s mileage’s? We wound up at the Red Bridge campground, where there are 4 campsites crowded together in plain view of the road, but we got water from the spigot there. We continued up to the white blaze that marks the North Country Trail connecting trail (although it is not labeled as such at that end, just a path into the woods. It IS marked where it connects to the NCT, if you are hiking counter-clockwise.) We hiked past an unofficial campsite uphill to the Red Hill????? Overlook, where we found a campsite we were glad to take. We had hiked a good 11-13 miles that day! We heard coyotes howling at night, very cool. There was no insect noise, however. The next day, we hiked up the NCT, as this was just before any major color change or leaf fall there were no real views. After some of the leaves fall, I expect you would have some nice views, but you might need to time it right to still have leaves on the hills you are trying to view! There is NO WATER between the spigot at Red Bridge and Eddington Creek . We found that a liter of water was enough for a mug of tea each, leaving 2 cups for freeze-dried dinner, or instant oatmeal for breakfast. We each had an additional liter for drinking on the trail. There were a few campsites along the way to Eddington Creek, there is a campsite on the north side of the creek with room for two campfires and tents, there is also one on the south side just beyond the switchback that is more isolated. We hiked from the creek back onto the Manistee River Trail, past campsites 1 and 2. They are easily accessible via road, and there were some fisher people in a pop-up camper. We got back to the suspension bridge and decided to hike back to official campsite 3 for our last night. That means we made the 26-mile loop in two days, which is more than we usually average. We didn’t stop to sightsee as much as usual, and there was only that one place where we got off the otherwise well-marked trail. . I did not notice any undue erosion from mountain bike traffic on this trail; perhaps sand is more forgiving than mud? I did notice, however, some places on the Manistee River Trail where a horse’s hoof had punched a large hole at the edge of a narrow part of the path. I saw no evidence that the horse had fallen, but would not recommend bringing them on the trail, I think they are not allowed on the path anyway. I did notice some other signs that a horse had been through, but I stepped over that. The NCT has more roots to step over than the MRT, but I think that is due to its greater age, more than to the action of mountain bikes. We saw no bikes while we were there, but saw the tracks of two (or one down the trail and back again?) We ran into two or three people Wednesday and Thursday, but Friday night and Saturday (especially) there were more people. It might be busier during the summer break, we schedule our vacation for AFTER the start of school.
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