Hiking the Jordan River Pathway in Michigan

In September I had the opportunity to take a friend of mine and his son on their first backpacking trip. Wanting it to be as much of an adventure for me as it was for them, I decided to choose a trail I had been looking at for a while but had not had the chance to do until now. So at 7:00am Friday morning we hit the road heading for Northern / Lower Michigan and the Jordan River Pathway. It was a good drive overall, taking about 2 ½ to 3 hours including a couple of rest stops due to substantial coffee intake. The weather was also on the good side, temperatures in the mid 60’s and nice clear skies, at least for the first half of the trip.

Being a trip of “firsts”, I loaned Tom my loved & trusty external pack and took the new internal pack I had purchased for its first trip as well. Our adventure actually started in the parking lot at the trail head which is also the parking lot for Dead Mans Overlook. A wild Snowshoe Hare was checking us out and thought us interesting enough to come within a foot of me and smell my hand before he wandered back into the woods. So it was, at 11:30am, we headed off down the trail, me still adjusting the multitude of straps on that new internal frame pack. We got an early enough start to enjoy the 5 hours it was going to take to get to our campsite without worrying about how many rest stops we took along the way to look at the scenery or talk to other hikers.

The first day of the trip went surprisingly well for having 2 newbie’s with me. The trail itself was moderate for about the first mile or so then flattened out for about the next 4 miles. During which time we passed from dense, old growth hardwoods, to open pastures, over marshy wetlands with foliage more than 8 feet tall crowding the trail, to bridges spanning small crystal clear lakes and streams, and on into cedar swamps that had logs placed sidewalk like across the trail to keep you out of the deep mud. Then we walked back into the old growth forest and hills for the last 3 miles for the day, with the Jordan River always at our left slowly churning along its way. The last few miles of trail had multiple elevation changes making it the most difficult part of the trail to the campground. Also the quietest, after walking up and down so many hills we were breathing too heavy for idle chit chat. It was about 4:30pm when we arrived at the Penney Bridge State Forest Campground, the only place you are allowed to camp along the trail.

The campground itself was really pretty nice with 15 rustic campsites with fire rings, picnic tables, very clean pit toilets, potable water from a hand pump, and a moderate $5 per person, per night use charge. I wish all the campsites I have stayed at over the years could have been this nice. After we set up camp we took a little time to explore the area around the campground, the river, and the woods to gather some fire wood and wish we had remembered our fishing poles to catch some of the beautiful trout that were swimming back and forth in the sparkling clear river. After dinner we started a fire and spent several hours checking out the abundant amount of stars that could be seen, and then turned in for an uneventful nights sleep.

Day 2 started with a quiet breakfast during what turned out to be the warmest time of the day (50°F) before we broke camp and readied ourselves for the trail back to Deadmans Scenic Overlook. It was about 8:30am when we finally hit the 2^nd half of the trail and immediately we wished we were back on the trail we had followed in. The trail started about ¼ of a mile from the campground with about a 280 foot (estimated) ascent straight up the side of a hill accompanied by a massive sinus headache on my part. But par to the course, about an hour into the hike my headache had subsided and the rain started, making an already difficult trail a little harder. The one bright point to this day was that we traversed the hardest portion of trail in the first hour and half of the hike, putting us back on a moderate trail when the rain started pouring down. Only having about 5 ½ hours to walk in the rain we decided to push on with very few stops along the way. We arrived at Deadman’s Hill Scenic Overlook about 2:30pm and despite the rain took a break for a few minutes to enjoy the spectacular view of the Jordan River Valley that was stretched out before us. Then it was on to the truck and our drive back. About 12 miles from the trail heads parking area, on M-32 is the town of Gaylord which has several restaurants, coffee shops, and hotels to visit after a couple days on the trail and it also has the closest access to I-75. In retrospect I would have to say the trip was a stunning success! We had a good time, the scenery was absolutely beautiful, the trail gave just the right amount heart pounding climbs for a seasoned hiker to enjoy and a newbie to cut their teeth on, and both father and son want to go again next summer. Two more converts to the world of backpacking! I would like to hike this trail again if for no other reason than to see the second half of the trail without the rain… and to have a chance at some of those trout we saw.