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Print Friendly MapThe 71-mile North Eastern State Trail, along the former Detroit and Mackinac Railway, provides a mostly solitary and meditative experience as you travel through wetlands, farmland, forests, and a few small towns. Starting from the Cheboygan trailhead, which intersects the 62-mile North Central State Trail, people on bikes may find the riding fairly slow given the not-so-compacted crushed limestone surface. Mountain bikes are recommended.
Located along the trail are several places with picnic tables, sometimes shaded, where you can take a break and soak in the natural beauty of northeastern Michigan. Given the isolated nature of the corridor, trail users should carry plenty of water, and cyclists should be prepared to fix a flat tire. In many segments of the trail, access to amenities requires backtracking either on or off the trail.
You will enjoy inspiring vistas as you make your way to Aloha State Park (8 miles from Cheboygan), with several areas to stop and take in the many small lakes along the trail. You are periodically surrounded by woodlands reminiscent of Michigan’s logging era, and it is not unusual for a chicken, goat, or horse to cross your path.
Individuals who are traveling the entire route may wish to stop at the Millersburg trailhead (about halfway through the trail at mile 33); here, you’ll find a few restaurants near the pathway as well as a railroad depot museum highlighting the railroad heritage of the region. Another 19 miles takes you to Posen, the next village, where you’ll find a few family-owned restaurants and businesses off the trail.
The final stretch of the trail from Posen to Alpena is another 19 miles, and there is no easy access to water or restrooms in the few small towns you pass along the way. Upon reaching the eastern endpoint, you can head south a short distance on Woodward Avenue to Johnston Street, where you can pick up the 14-mile Alpena Bi-Path, which skirts the Alpena Wildlife Sanctuary and extends in various directions through the town.
A large public parking lot for the trail is available at the Cheboygan trailhead. To reach the trailhead from I-75, take Exit 322 toward Cheboygan, and head east on County Road 64/Riggsville Road for 5.9 miles. Turn left to continue on Riggsville Road. In 1.4 miles, bear right to merge onto Woiderski Road; go 0.5 mile, and continue onto W. Lincoln Ave. After another 0.5 mile, turn left onto S. Western Ave., and go 0.2 mile. Turn right onto Taylor St., and make an immediate right into the trailhead parking lot.
To reach the southern trailhead in Alpena from the intersection of MI 65 N. and MI 32 in Lachine, head east on MI 32 and go 13.7 miles. Turn left onto N. Bagley St., and go 1.2 miles, crossing the Thunder Bay River. Turn right onto Long Rapids Road, go 1 mile, and, just past the intersection with US 23 N., continue straight onto Johnson St. for 0.6 mile. Turn left onto Woodward Ave. and, after 0.5 mile, look for the trailhead parking lot and restrooms, to your right.
What a nice trail! Peaceful ride to Bolton and back (20 miles) and only saw 2 other riders. Trail is in great shape. The trailhead in Alpena is very nice with picnic tables and very nice restrooms. Looking forward to riding more of the northeastern trail, as well as the north central trail.
I was pleased with the condition of this trail, sounds like it's improved since a few years ago. Very comfortable on a Long Haul Trucker with 700x32mm tires. I thought it was about as smooth as could be without being paved, aside from just a few patches of slightly thicker gravel. Very glad with my bike choice, mountain bike would have been overkill and would have been slower. Definitely sunny for most of the trail, a cool or cloudy day would be preferable if you're going a distance. Heading NW I was faced with a decent headwind, esp by mid afternoon. Over the 47 miles with a loaded bike I averaged 11-12mph in the NW direction, and slightly faster on the way back south (I'm in mid to decent riding shape and used to steeper terrain). My entire trip was from Alpena to Onaway and then up the road to Onaway SP (54 miles total one way) and it took about 6 or 7 hours with some leisurely stops, could be done faster. I only saw 4 other people on the trail. The scenery and remote-ness surpassed my expectations! Had some intimate moments with sandhill cranes, a kingfisher, and red-shouldered hawk. It was a neat way to see a portion of Michigan that I otherwise probably wouldn't go out of my way to visit.
We had a beautiful sunny day and rode from the trailhead in Alpena to Posen, out and back. The trail was generally smooth and easy to ride on. It went mainly through woods and some fields and farmland. We saw some wildlife including deer and wild turkeys, as well as an abundance of butterflies - a very pleasant and peaceful ride.
We stopped for lunch in Posen at the Route 65 Diner, which is just north of the trail in town. They had a good variety of choices, great food, great service in a welcoming environment, and a clean bathroom to boot! Would definitely recommend!
Marking the first day of Autumn, my friend and I rode 36 miles from the Millersburg trailhead, east to Alpena. The trail was in great shape (no longer rough as reported in previous year's reviews). The trailhead in Metz was beautiful and included a shaded pavillion, restrooms, a drinking fountain with great tasting water, informative displays regarding death, destruction and recovery efforts associated with the huge fire in 1908 and was nicely landscaped. We rode our gravel bikes with 35 to 40 mm widths, I would not advise using road bikes. Lots of nice little towns along the route to find refreshments. This was an excellent, though little used trail.
Rode from the trailhead in Millersburg (very nice facility) to the trailhead in Cheboygan. Over the 34 miles there were nice views and a number of towns to pick up food and or refreshments. The bridges were all in good shape, as was the trail surface. My friend and I rode gravel bikes, mine with 35mm tires and his with 40mm width tires. The surface wasn't rough and there was only one road crossing where there were significant bike handling issues due to the sand. I wouldn't advice using a road bike with skinny high pressure tires, they'll likely have problems in some of the areas where there was a bit of loose gravel. This was a really nice trail!
I found this trail to be fun - good crushed limestone, well marked (including distance to next location). There are a number of road crossings, but that can't be helped. It would be great if they could make it so I don't go uphill and into the wind, but also, nothing to be done about that!
I tried biking from Tower east and only made it to Onaway before turning around. The trail surface was rough for my hybrid bike. There was little shade, no benches, few points of interest. I was the only biker out on June 7, 2019, which was a Friday and a beautiful day. I think this trail has potential, and maybe there are some picturesque spots, but I chose to return to the North Central Trail at Wolverine, also crushed limestone but a smooth surface.
I had planned to ride the trail from Cheboygan, Mi. to Alpena. Other cyclists told me the trail was rough most of the way, so I decided to ride part of the trail North from Alpena. The 10 miles I rode was rough. There were tractor tire imprints left when the trail was driven over while still soft. It dried out then hardened. It was about like riding over a washboard....for those of you who know what that is. The part of the trail I rode was mostly through wooded areas. I was riding a Cannondale Synapse with 700x32 tires. The trail is more suited for hybrids or mountain bikes.
I rode from M33 to M27. Very nice, although a tad loose for 25mm tires. There is access to Aloha State Park (bathrooms, picnic tables, etc) from the trail. A park ranger stopped me at a crossing and gave me a FREE ICE CREAM ticket for being a safe rider! 😁
Careful on the bridge crossing the Cheboygan River (see my hazard alertin a different post).
The bridge crossing the Cheboygan River is potentially dangerous. The wood planking has some gaps wide enough for tires to get caught AND once caught, there is no escape. I nearly crashed!
Unless you feel lucky, best walk across the bridge.
My aunt and I set out to ride from Cheboygan to Onaway, round trip totaling 52 miles. This trail is gorgeous and very easy to navigate. I agree with the previous reviews that, there is no coasting, limestone is difficult at times. Our average speed was only around 8-9mph, so it took us 6 hours to ride the trail.
Onaway has a great restaurant called Woodwinds for our half point to grab lunch and some homemade cookies for a little boost on our way back. Getting to Onaway was very cool, a little off roading around a farm which lead to some great pics.
Wife and I just returned from 3 days of cycling using Cheboygan as a hub. On our third day we did 15.5 miles on the North East State trail from Cheboygan to Aloha State Park and back. Could only give it a 3 star rating.
Good News: Great trail head services in both Cheboygan and at Aloha State Park. Scenic route with a mix of shade trees and open farm fields. Cool bridge crossing over the Cheboygan River.
Bad News: The crushed limestone surface is too deep and causes a lot of rolling resistance. On my 700 X 38mm tire I felt as if I was “snowplowing” through the crushed limestone. As another commenter said, “there is no coasting on this trail.” In fact, on similar RTTs that have numerous street crossings but are PAVED my average moving speed is 14.5 mph. However, my speed on this section of the NEST was only 10.3 mph. So plan your trip accordingly.
The crushed limestone is most troublesome at street crossings were it can be 3” deep and stop you dead in your tracks.
Wish this trail was paved as they did with the Leelanau Trail in Traverse City or the Little Traverse Wheelway – Charlevoix to Harbor Springs.
We just rode 6 miles south of Cheboygan and back on our hybrid tandem. The route is nice, as it is not alongside a highway. Very quiet, allowing us to enjoy the bird serenades.
We were a bit disappointed with the trail surface. It was irregular, with some narrow tracks of hard pack but 80-90% of the width was loose crushed gravel. Some of the road intersections had deep gravel aprons which we had to plow through with our 20" front wheel. There was also the occasional pothole to avoid. If the gravel had some clay mixed in it would make for a much nicer ride.
My wife and I started at Aloha state park and went north to Cheboygan. There was a slight incline going. We had a nice lunch at Pier 33 restaurant. Only four stars instead of five just because I'm a little lazy and like to coast now and then. No coasting on the crushed limestone. There are some isolated spots so girls go with a friend.
My friend and I ride this at least once a year and it is a very nice ride. We always see deer, many different types of birds and we are always joined by dragonflys that fly along with us! I ride a hybrid and it is fine on the hard pack/crushed stone. When you are near Aloha State Park, there are a few places to pull off and check out the lake.
I rode this trail on the 2012 summer solstice . "HOT" weather but cool trail . The area had some severe weather that had washed out some of the drain culverts but a constuction crew was doing repairs . The weekend of June 23 , all the towns along the trail are having ribbon cutting ceremonies for its grand opening . The trail is packed crushed lime stone and is easily rode on skinny tires . I tell you what fellow bikers this trail is out in the wilderness of northern mich. . It gave me the feeling like an Elk could pop out of the trees at any time . A must ride trail if you like the wilderness and easy riding . So get out there and "RIDE ON" bikers .
20120413: Rode a TerraTrike Rover from Alpena to Posen to Sunken Lake Park campground and back. About 50 miles, mostly on the trail. Not a bad trail but there are some problems.
There isn't a sidewalk where it crosses US-23. If you are approaching from downtown Alpena you either have to ride with traffic on US-23, cross the Alpena Community College campus and head up Woodward Avenue to the trail start, or take French Road/Truckey Road (also no sidewalks) and enter the trail from their crossings.
Trail segment between French Road and Truckey Road is completely washed out. Fine-crushed limestone does not have suitable erosion resistance at the bottom of a long hill. Needs to be replaced with larger stone. Use a mountain bike, walk, or bypass it via Truckey Road. The pavement ends before the crossing but the gravel section is relatively short.
There is a few channels cut across the trail from flooding. Hard impact if you don't have shock absorption. Needs some culverts.
Some of the traffic guard posts are unevenly spaced or a little too close together for my Trike. I was able to make it through all of them but had to be careful about which gap to use.
Section between Duck Lake and Posen is damp and soft. More drag than the rest of the trail.
There is a small waterfall visible from the trail at 45°11'39.23"N, 83°36'32.76"W. Possibly a sinkhole.
If you are heading to the campground at Sunken Lake Park, get off the trail at Long Lake Highway (paved) and take it to M-65. Head south a few miles to Maple Lane (western portion, which is about 0.5 mi down from the eastern portion). Horrible road (loose gravel and steep hills) but it's only a mile to Leer Road. Leer is paved down to Sunken Lake Road (which is packed dirt/gravel).
I highly recommend the Route 65 Diner on the north side of Posen.
My son and I rode this trail last week (November 7th), and it was a great ride. I was a little leery about taking my very thin-tired road bike, but I had no trouble at all. Rode from Alpena to Onaway. I did swap out my clip pedals for regular pedals though, and found I missed being able to use my upstroke. That's a lot of constant pedaling, no downhill breaks like you get on the road. My son saw a black bear near Bolton. Nice trail, thank you RTC!
The new hard pack gravel was very nice to ride on. Rode the trail from Cheboygan to Hawks and from Metz to Alpena. I had to skip the Hawks to Metz stretch of the trail due to construction that should be done by the time you read this review. I saw very good fall color on my mid October visit. Services like water and restrooms are almost non existent on the trail itself.
We parked in a field just off M211 in Onaway (north of highway 68 I think it is) (across from a Do It Best store) and rode west to M33 (Indian River) - about 15.5 miles - and back - on Sat Oct 8, 2011 . This stretch of the trail is beautiful. We ate wild apples, saw beaver dams, an elk, and, of course, amazingly beautiful Fall colors. There are no trail amenities including no bathrooms, so it might be nice to start in Hawks. There are restaurants and hand-dipped ice cream near the trail head there. A couple of riders we met said there was some gravel 2 miles east of Onaway and it was tough for one of them with skinny tires. We rode hybrids.
Hope to get back up there to ride the whole trail.
- Ginnis
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