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Manistee River Trail

Intermediate Intermediate
 4.6 (59)
  1. Areas
  2. MI
  3. …Northern Michigan
  4. Marilla
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“A winding trail with small to medium hills that closely follows the river with lots of wildlife. ”

Ryan McGovern
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Map Key

12.0

Miles

19.3

KM

Point to Point

986' 301 m

High

720' 219 m

Low

907' 277 m

Up

806' 246 m

Down

3%

Avg Grade (2°)

23%

Max Grade (13°)

Dogs Leashed

Features River/Creek · Views

Description

The Manistee River Trail can be a great fit for many different levels of hikers. You can hike this trail from start-to-end if you have a group with multiple vehicles. You have the choice to hike all 10.8 miles and then retrace your steps back to your vehicle for a 21.6 mile hike. My favorite thing to do is to park at Seton Creek campground, hike all the way down (10.8 miles) to Red Bridge (reserved campsites available) and then hike up the other side of river on a section of the NCT (10 miles). Then you can cross a suspension bridge and retrace the first 1.5 miles or so of the MRT back to your vehicle.

There are many marked campsites along the MRT and many more locations that will work just fine if you head off the trail into the forest. Water from the river is never really far away from this trail. The NCT side of the loop has few spots on the southern half of the loop that have water access and need to be planned accordingly.

The MRT has a few small waterfalls along the trail which can make for a great place to sleep if that sound does it for you. The terrain is a singletrack that is a bit rough at times but well maintained. It is not terribly uncommon to need to step over small trees or hike through some mud at times.

Contacts

Land Manager: USFS - Huron & Manistee National Forests Office

Shared By:

Ryan McGovern with improvements by Mark Witte
Full Details

Trail Ratings

  4.6 from 59 votes

#1

in Marilla

#27

Overall
  4.6 from 59 votes
5 Star
66%
4 Star
29%
3 Star
5%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
0%
Trail Rankings

#1

in Marilla

#1

in Michigan

#27

Overall
20 Views Last Month
3,438 Since Aug 22, 2016
Intermediate Intermediate
0%
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81%
9%
11%
0%
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Photos

Bluffs along the Manistee River Trail.
Aug 13, 2016 near Cadillac, MI
Sunrise over the Manistee River on Labor Day Weekend 2020
Nov 16, 2020 near Manton, MI
"The Mini Mac" wooden suspension bridge over the Manistee River.
Oct 13, 2023 near Manton, MI
The view from along the MRT on a gloomy but still wonderful day.
Oct 31, 2016 near Manton, MI
Unnamed waterfall on the Manistee River Trail.
Oct 13, 2023 near Manton, MI
The bridge above the small waterfall.
Oct 13, 2023 near Manton, MI

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Weather

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Check-Ins

Sep 4, 2023
Benjamin Algera
Oct 2, 2022
Deanna Throesch
Manistee river loop trip
Aug 19, 2022
Alexander Kauer
Hiked from NCT side. Camped 1 mile south of sheep ranch road on night one. hiked to campsite 8b on second day (8-3). Back to car in 1.5 hours on da… 12mi
Jul 3, 2022
Alexander Kauer
12mi
Oct 13, 2021
Mark Witte
Absolutely wonderful trail. I did the Manistee River Trail and North Country Trail for the full loop. Fairly easy to follow, good trail conditions. 21mi — 5h 05m
May 15, 2021
Benjamin Hanes
24mi
Sep 20, 2020
Beth N
10mi — 3h 30m
Sep 19, 2020
Beth N
10mi — 4h 00m
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