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The Fred Meijer Flat River Valley Rail Trail links the cities of Lowell, Belding, and Greenville in Kent, Ionia, and Montcalm counties, respectively. Running along a former railroad corridor, the trail is the first rail trail in Michigan to be surfaced with finely screened and compacted recycled asphalt, which makes a smooth and firm surface.
About the Route
Traveling primarily through hardwood forests and quiet farmland, the Fred Meijer Flat River Valley Rail Trail makes for a scenic and accessible route perfect for recreation and commuting alike. The trail leaves off in the north from Greenville and heads straight into the forest for 2.28 miles until reaching Belding.
The 2.3-mile stretch in Belding between Long Lake Road and State Street heads through the community's downtown and features three restored trestles over the Flat River.
South of Belding, the trail continues through forests and farmlands with some infrequent road crossings heading south into Lowell.
In Lowell, the trail comes to its southern endpoint inconspicuously along Foreman St. SE. From here, local sidepaths connect trail users to Creekside Park and Lowell High School.
Connections
In Jackson's Landing Park in Greenville, trail users can connect to the Fred Meijer Flat River Trail and the Fred Meijer Heartland Trail.
The Fred Meijer Flat River Valley Rail Trail runs between Jackson's Landing Park (Greenville), where parking is available, and Foreman St. SE (Lowell).
Parking is also available at:
Please see TrailLink Map for all parking options and detailed directions.
Rode this trail from Lowell north toward Belding about 8 miles one way. We parked in Creekside Park off Gee Drive; rode sidewalk about ½ mile to the Foreman St trailhead. Since it was Saturday, it looked like we could have parked at Cherry Creek Elementary School less than a block from trailhead or Lowell Middle School also off Foreman St. The trail starts next to a private residence; there's a small sign identifying the trail.
The trail was smooth asphalt for first mile; then turned to recycled asphalt which is like gravel. It was fairly firm in most spots, not a problem for our 42c tires, the pace was a bit slower. The intersection at McPherson Rd was very loose, otherwise the trail was level and good for our gravel bikes. The trail is mostly tree-lined, at least on the west side, passing through woodland, marsh, and farmland.
A nice, quiet ride with infrequent road crossings and very few people.
In its day, you may have been able to ride a road bike on this rail trail. Unfortunately, it is primarily loose, broken asphalt. It would be a great ride if you have a mountain, fat tire, or e-bike with wider tires.
We enjoyed this ride, all 45 miles, from Creekside Park in Lowell to Greenville and back. The surface wasn't nice asphalt, but kinda rough. Some areas were worn smoothish from use - so not terrible. But we will were able to keep a good pace. The bathrooms in Belding were locked on the Saturday morning of Memorial weekend, but there was a lovely porta potty we could use. What's the point of bathrooms if we can't use them? (Side note, the bathrooms at Creekside Park in Lowell were unlocked and very nice. The sign on the bathrooms said they opened at 10 am, but we were there earlier than that and they were open. Thanks, Lowell.)
We saw several turtles, including a few snappers that appeared to be laying eggs on the edge of the path, but we didn't too close to verify that because we like to keep our fingers. Also saw some deer, a quail, birds, and a bunny.
Beware, southbound once you get around Smyrna there is a long uphill section. Not steep because trains are wimpier than I am, but it was a long section.
I've been running a couple different out and back stretches between McPherson Ave and Greenville about three times a week from spring to fall for about 4 years now.
I can see how the surface might not be good for skinny wheel bikes in areas, but for runners. the surface is pretty great. Not only is it a softer impact surface than asphalt, even better, no crown in the path is needed to shed water. No crown means a perfect flat surface across the path. I can run on the sides, out of biker's way, and not have one leg travelling farther than the other to make up for the drop in the crown, screwing up my hips and back.
Sounds amazing underfoot, too.
Not to mention the nature and surroundings.
I ran by a fawn sleeping right in the middle of the path a couple days ago. Eagles, Sand Hill Cranes, Fox, all kinds of water birds. It's amazing.
Please never pave this path. Touch it up here and there, but no asphalt.
Originally saw how nice the trail was in Lowell, decided to ride to Belding and back. After first few miles of beautiful trails it quickly became quite rough, actually very rough. We made it round trip but will definitely not be back. It’s unfortunate it’s not being maintained. We live closer to and have ridden the Kal Haven Trail which is a lot nicer. Also surprised there are no restrooms anywhere on the trail.
From building to Greenville is a good 5 miles of extremely rough asphalt, almost crushed gravel, and it about shook my innards out
July 2022 - Started in Lowell and rode north about 12mi to Smyrna and came back. It was a great trail. The first mile or two was paved, then it switched to well maintained crushed gravel. Most of it was very solid, with a few wet parts that were a bit soft but easily passible on a fat tire e-bike. While there were roughly 10 road crossings, it was very rural with most of your view being pasture, woods, ponds, and farm fields. I saw multiple deer, woodchuck, birds, and other wildlife. They were harvesting haybales at the farms, so that was cool to see as well. The trail was well traveled, so it felt remote yet safe given all the other walkers, runners, and bikers around.
May 2022, we started in Lowell at Trailhead (parked at Creekside Park) and rode to Belding. Trail starts with blacktop then changes to crushed asphalt. Trail is in excellent condition for hybrid bikes. Beautiful countryside. This is a must-do trail! We’ll do Belding to Greenville and back next time.
Previous reviewer had it pretty accurate for the Lowell to Belding stretch. Paved in the cities, leads to hard-pack (like crushed gravel/old asphalt but highly compressed) with some dirt mixed in. Mtb bikes, hybrids and gravel bikes will not have any problems here; I rode an average 15MPH from 4 Mile (Lowell side) up to north of Belding and back on a gravel bike, very few soft spots and they were marked for repair. And I'm a larger guy, but no worries about tires. Land around the trails was beautiful!
I have ridden this trail from Greenville to mile marker 94 it crosses several roads. it is mostly solid surface but there is loose gravel in places. There are benches every mile from Greenville to Belding if you need a break. from Belding to Lowell there are benches but they are around 3 miles apart. there are no real hills with only about 100ft of elevation change total. No place to camp as most of the land is private along the trail. The trail is owned by the state with maintenance provide by Ron Gunderson and the FMRVRT.org, He is on the trail daily his is the only vehicle you will likely see. He does a great job at maintaining the trail
This trail is incredibly well maintained and could be ridden with a road bike however gravel tires are best.
Only one busy intersection at Lincoln Lake Road, most others are gravel roads with good sight lines making it safe to see approaching car traffic.
I sincerely hope this doesn't get paved as the gravel experience is unlike cement or asphalt AND it moves moisture away nicely...
Recently (late November 2020) the trail was swept and loose spots at several intersections were addressed making it literally the best gravel trail I've ridden yet..
I ride my bike from Lowell to Greenville - this is one of the nicest trails in MI! The gravel is a special composite for biking and walking. It is well maintained and scenic with mostly flat rides through forest and farmlands.
Ran from Greenville. Towards Belding. First mile is paved. Then gravel. Great scenery. Definitely will do again.
Wow! Recently updated and paved. Such a great scenic route north. Walked 8 miles and so much wildlife and amazing scenery. Park at Creekside Park and walk a few minutes to the trail head.
Fun ride a with a few crossroads ; hope they put up the trail crossing signs soon drivers flying by
Rode this today 5/3/20. The path itself is nice and wide but the gravel makes for a very bumpy ride. The scenery was pleasant but the best part of the trail was the two miles of pavement in Belding. If you’re trying to do a long ride find a different trail.
The new improved trail is a hidden gem. I run often from Foreman north. It has a slight incline which is great for doing negative splits when I run an out and back
If paved with asphalt, this would be a great, scenic trail. Unfortunately there is a crushed asphalt, gravel surface not suitable for road bikes, recumbents or anything without fat tires.
The trail starting from Foreman Street in Lowell is still a rocky rough ride. The rails are gone, but that's about as far as it has progressed.
I was riding from Alma to Greenville (FM Heartland), Greenville to Lowell (FM Flat River), Lowell to Ionia (FM Grand River), Ionia to Fowler (FM Clinton-Ionia-Shiawassee), then roads back to Alma.
On the FM Flat River segment I made it about 5 miles from Greenville, almost to Belding, before bailing and using roads to cut over to Ionia and skipping the Grand River segment.
FM Flat River between Greenville and Belding is not recommended or fun on any bike I can think of, due to occasional pockets of deep loose basalt that cause tires to dig in and fishtail/skid suddenly. Anti-truck and ATV barriers are missing and surface has loose areas from vehicle traffic. As of 7/3/18 the cover photo blocking tree is still across the trail too, though enough branches are trimmed off to climb through with a bike.
Disappointing as I wanted to do the whole loop, but the potential for this to be epic in the future is high.
mostly rock and grass between Belding and Greenville. Not rideable at all in current state.
I drove to Lowell to take this trail north from there. It is not paved. It is rocks about the size of a small fist at least where it starts in Lowell. I was on my mountain bike, but only ended up going a short ways along it as the size of the rocks made it very bumpy and for me unpleasant. I ended up taking the shorter paved trail that started at cedar park and went to the high school and back.
I had an appointment in Greenville, Mi. Took my bike along. I did the circle around Greenville. For bike riding not impressed. For a family with small kids or those that walk or skate it is perfect.
Work has begun on developing approximately 2.3 miles of trail from M44 on the south side of Belding up to Long Lake Road north of town. It includes the addition of new decking and railing for three existing trestles.
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