Michigan Bicycle Tours …
Bicycle Tour of Michigan ….
Michigan is located in the middle of the Great Lakes Basin and consequently has an abundance of natural attractions …
That, combined with over 1300 bike trails, makes it a great place for bicycle touring.
Michigan’s natural assets include the planet’s most extensive fresh-water coastline and tallest fresh-water sand dunes.
It is also home to 11,000 lakes and 36,000 miles of rivers and streams, 99 State parks, over 100 public beaches, 100 lighthouses, 150 waterfalls, beautiful sandstone cliffs, 2 National Lakeshores, wildlife refuges, hundreds of islands, 10 shipwreck-diving preserves, fields and fields of cherry orchards, and the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Lake Huron – the only national marine sanctuary located in the Great Lakes region.
Michigan Bicycle Tours – Self Guided & Organized
If you to undertake your own self-guided tour of Michigan then there are literally a thousand plus, bike trails that you can explore – with gorgeous little B&B’s, vineyards, cafes, orchards etc – to visit en route.
The Michigan Department of Tourism is really supportive of cycling and encourages people to take advantage of what Michigan has to offer cyclists. They have produced a information package called ‘Biking In Michigan’ which lists all the best cycling regions in Michigan
It also includes a calendar of over a hundred cycling events that occur across the region throughout the year. It can be obtained from their website.
The most popular bicycle tours of Michigan tend to be the ones that take in the State forests and national parks. Depending on what you are seeking there are trails for both casual and MTB riding.
A lot of these State recreation areas also offer great camping grounds – so you wanted a base you could set up camp in the forest and make your daily bicycle tours from there.
However if you prefer a bit of help then there are a number of great organized Michigan bicycle tours that will give you a taste of the local gastronomical, historical, cultural and environmental highlights. All levels of skills and distances traveled are catered for in these bike tours.
Routes For Popular Michigan Bicycle Tours
Spring Lake to Mackinaw City – approx 440 miles / 708km – along the shoreline.
The Kal Haven Trail – from South Haven at Lake Michigan across to Kalamazoo – approx 34 miles / 55km.
The Musketawa Trail – from Muskegon to Marne – approx 26 miles / 41km of paved trails.
Apple Cider Century Event – from Three Oaks village – approx 100 miles / 161 km.
Leelanau to Boyne City – approx 372 miles / 598 km.
Weather Watch: For Michigan Bicycle Tours
Michigan experiences four distinctive seasons.
Winter produces heavy snowfalls and extremely cold temperatures – especially in the Upper Peninsula and in the northern region of the Lower Peninsula.
The Michigan tornado season is usually well underway during late spring to early summer so keep this in mind if you are planning a bicycle tour of Michigan.
In part due to the huge bodies of water surrounding Michigan – there tends to be rather high levels of humidity – usually ranging from 60 – 81% .
There is a lot more cloud cover in Michigan, than experienced in the other US States – the average amount of sunny days being approximately 49% annually.
Michigan has an average rainfall of approximately – 35 inches or 89 cm per year.
Summer
July-August are the warmest months with average highs of 70-80 degrees fahrenheit or 21-26 degrees celsius.
Winter
December-January are the coldest months with average lows of 13-23 degrees fahrenheit or minus 5- minus 13 degrees celsius.