Overview
The 11.1-mile Fred Meijer Berry Junction Trail is situated between two natural treasures: Lake Michigan to the west and the Manistee National Forest to the east. The pathway, built on an inactive section of the Chicago and West Michigan Railroad, provides an important connection between the communities of Muskegon, Fruitland, Dalton, and Whitehall.
About the Route
While most of the trail takes trail users through peaceful forests and occasional meadows, midway along the trail, just north of Riley-Thompson Road, the sights and sounds will become quite different than the rest of the trail.
Here, the Shivering Timbers roller coaster, one of many rides at Michigan's Adventure, the largest amusement park in the state, towers over the trail, so you might hear the rumble of the high-speed cars on its wooden tracks and the screaming of thrill-seekers for a short while. The rest of the trail continues south through this forested landscape until reaching the more urban landscape of North Muskegon.
Connections
At the northern end of the Fred Meijer Berry Junction Trail connects to the White Lake Pathway, which in turn connects to the Hart-Montague Trail.
At the southern end of the trail, trail users can connect to the Muskegon Lakeshore Trail.
The Fred Meijer Berry Junction Trail runs between 3392-3404 W White Lake Dr. (Whitehall) and 2529 Lake Ave.(North Muskegon), with parking available at both ends.
Parking is also available along W McMillan Rd.
This parking address does not have an official address, please see TrailLink Map for all parking options and detailed directions.
Lovely trail. Lots of shade throughout. Down side is the numerous stop signs/road crossings but otherwise mostly flat and trail is in great condition!
I parked at P.J. Hoffmaster and rode to Shelby. Berry Junction is a beautiful ride. The asphalt is perfect. You ride through very nice woodlands. Going north T has some twists and turns that makes it all the more fun. This is my favorite trail that I have ridden.
Nice September ride. Parked in Whitehall/Montague and picked up the White Lake Pathway for a few miles and connected to the Fred Meijer Berry Junction trail into North Muskegon. Trail is paved and very good condition. Trail services in North Muskegon. Always an enjoyable ride on this trail!
We were so impressed by this section of trail. It was pretty and clean. The wildflowers and sculptures were delightful too!
Rode this nice trail from N. Muskegon, then connected onto the Hart-Montague Trail, and ended up in Hart. Both trails are smooth, slightly hilly in spots, and nice diverse in that you ride through both forest and small towns. If we lived closer, we would ride these two frequently.
Rode this trail in May, 2021 and found it to be beautiful. Started near Whitehall road and went north. Trail is smooth and very scenic.
No need for your mountain bike on this paved, smooth trail. Very few roots or cracks makes for excellent road bike conditions. Little shade, most of the trail is in full sun.
Highly recommend this trail. We began at the parking lot of the First Evangelical Lutheran Church (signs posted welcoming cyclists to use their lot) a short distance North of the trailhead. The trail turns into a wooded area a short distance North. A couple of miles of shaded, hilly trail (not strenuous but not typical rails to trails flat) is followed by a longer stretches of flat, more exposed areas - trees are cleared about 15' either side of the trail for approximately 80% of this portion of the trail until the the end at White Lake Road. We continued along the White Lake Pathway (begins on the other side of White Lake Road) - be sure to stay left at the next road intersection (Warner St) and follow the path across the street through a shady couple of miles with some more grade changes. The trail then descends to White Lake and continues to Montague (There were a couple of inches of water on the trail in this area at two points - both short and passable for all riders). The White Lake Pathway leads directly to the Hart Montague Trail which we continued to follow for a few more miles before backtracking the same route. All 17.5 miles (one way) were on dedicated bike paths with no road riding. The entire length of trail was exceptionally smooth asphalt. Even though this was perfect riding weather, the trail was lightly used. We will return to this trail in the future. A great ride.
Quiet and woodsy. Nice pavement. Less traveled
The new southern extension has made this into one of my favorite trails. The paved surface is near perfect and it is lightly traveled, in contrast to the White Pine Trail which runs parallel to the east. You can now ride from downtown Muskegon all the way to Hart on paved trails off the roadways. This portion is remote and very quiet with only a few houses in the distance.
The northern extension (White Lake Pathway) into Whitehall and the southern extension into North Muskegon are very scenic, curvy and shady. This is a family friendly trail crossing only 3 busy roads. During the summer in the afternoons and evenings the "Shivering Timbers" roller coaster at Michigan's Adventure comes within a few yards of the trail and provides a welcome distraction for kids on the otherwise long boring straight stretch. Early and late in the day even this central portion of the trail is somewhat shaded.
The down side of the remoteness of this trail is the total lack of signage, mile markers, access to water, or toilets. The very bicycle friendly First Evangelical Lutheran Church or the fast food place south of it are the last potential pit stops on the south end. The White Lake Public Library is a perfect pit stop on the White Lake Pathway northern extension but easy to miss in the woods--there is a short paved spur going off near the 2 boardwalk sections.
With the new section added, Summer 2018, this trail is 10 miles in length. At the North end, the trail begins where the White Lake Pathway ends as a seamless connection. Though no signage there. Along the trail there are no mile markers either. A few miles into the trail, there is one sign marker. North end of the trail starts at White Lake Drive in Whitehall and ends on Whitehall Road in Muskegon near First Evangelical Lutheran Church. There is parking along the trail at McMillan Road.
New section of the trail winds through a wooded area and has some grade to it.
A nice ride if you park in Whitehall and take the White River Pathway to Fred Meijer Berry Junction. These two trails are a total of 13 miles. White Lake Pathway is 3, Fred Meijer Berry Junction is 10.
Biked the Muskegon Lakeside trail....now connected to the Berry Junction Trail...a total of 30 miles. The connecting portion north of Muskegon was not officially opened (as of 6/25/18) as we found out from two trail construction workers who chided us lightly and cautioned us "the trail is not officially opened, but would be later this week." Great trail if taken all the way from Muskegon to Whitehall. In fact once in Whitehall you can continue on to Hart-Montague trail. Trail has it all, city, seashore, forest, curves, slight hills and nice paved surface.
Took my sis and brother-law for their first trail ride - nice smooth ride - enjoyed the view and the screams from Michigan adventure. Great afternoon ride.
Biked this trail both ways today. The trail condition is perfect..not even a crack in the entire length. Was surprised to see only one other biker..even though the temp was in the 60's and sunny.
If you want a smooth fast rollerblade ride, this is a great trail. The surface is very smooth, wide and relatively flat. We enjoy the wooded, quiet trail and setting.
My wife and I biked the Berry Junction Trail starting at the White Lake Library and biked south to Dalton. Great surface to bike, surprised when in the distance we saw the roller coaster rides from Mich Adventure. Wooded and scenic the trail was not busy and few crossroads. Once back to the library we did lunch at Pekadills not far off the trail (another surprise)..then rode from the library to Montague a day long total of 16 plus miles...great trail if 15 miles are enough.
My wife and I have walked this trail twice now and it is very beautiful and enjoyed seeing the scenery. The first time that we walked the Fred Meijer Berry Junction Trail was about two weeks ago where we started from Engle Drive and Tyler Road in Dalton Township, Michigan to Whitehall Road and Bell Road. And I have no idea how far of a walk it was round trip; but it was a nice walk. The second time was on Saturday, August 25, 2012 that my wife and I walked the Fred Meijer Berry Junction Trail was from Engle Drive and Tyler Road in Dalton Township, Michigan to Lakewood Road and Whitehall Road. Again I have no idea how far of a walk it was round trip, but I know that it took my wife 2 hours as we started about 3:00 P.M. and ended our walk around 5:00 P.M. and on our way back we saw one brown shelled turtle and two does.
While not a lot of scenery, the trail surface is excellent with long stretches in between street crossings.
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