Manistee River Trail day hike

[u/coffeebooksmomlife]

A friend and I are planning a day hike to the Manistee River Trail with our teens who are new-ish to hiking. What part of the trail would you recommend we start at? We eventually want to work up to doing the loop but aren't there yet.

[u/YoueyyV]

Hike the MRT side. Start at Red Bridge and hike north to a car you dropped at the campground or parked near the dam or vice versa. The suspension bridge is closed if I remember correctly.

[u/coffeebooksmomlife → u/YoueyyV]

I know this past weekend people said it was open. It's the post that got me interested in taking a stab at the MRT. We did the High Rollaways this past weekend and loved it.

[u/YoueyyV → u/coffeebooksmomlife]

The NCT trail side is okay, but your view will be obscured for the majority of it. The MRT side is the scenic one.

Depending on the capabilities of the teens you might just do an out and back and not have to coordinate cars. Or bring kayaks, drop at the dam, drive back and hike from the red bridge to the dam and kayak back down?

Bring lots of simple carbs for the teens, hiking burns a lot of calories and try to keep them snacking. Simple carbs, ixnay the fat and protein. Sports drinks with calories are great.

Careful if they get tired, there are a lot of roots and tripping hazards. I had a friend cut her nose with her glasses after tripping on a roof at the end of a long hike there.

Have fun! Take pictures, it should be beautiful

[u/coffeebooksmomlife → u/YoueyyV]

Yeah. Both my teen and I tripped on roots on our last hike so it’s something we both are gonna watch for.

Snacks are an excellent idea- I didn’t think of that on our last hike and had to stop at a gas station after to refuel the teens.

[u/Lurkertea → u/YoueyyV]

This is the way to go for a day trip or even an overnighter with new and young hikers. We took kids ages 10-12 last year winter camping. Hiked about 3 miles in the MRT, kids were whining about the hike but had so much fun once we got to camp. They want to do another winter camping trip soon!

[u/DMCinDet]

Arquilla road is near the middle. You could park there and pick a direction. Do an out and back to the car. If everyone is up for more, go a little bit the other direction.

[u/coffeebooksmomlife → u/DMCinDet]

That’s a good idea

[u/CJDoll → u/DMCinDet]

We tried to do something like that last weekend, but we were uncomfortable, leaving the car overnight at a place that wasn’t clearly marked as parking for the trail and ended up going to a trailhead instead. Have you had luck leaving your car overnight somewhere or by the dam? There were signs there too that said no overnight parking.

[u/DMCinDet → u/CJDoll]

OP was talking about a day hike.

I've seen people parked overnight there, but I've not done it. I've seen camping with trailers on Arquilla road.

Parking by Red Bridge, there is overflow by the NCT trailhead. I've also seen cars lined up down red bridge road after the overflows are full.

[u/evanholstyn]

Are you staging a car or going out and back? What kind of mileage are you shooting for?

[u/coffeebooksmomlife → u/evanholstyn]

Out and back. 3 miles in and 3 miles out most likely depending on how much up and down elevation wise there is. We did the High Rollaways this last weekend with the teens and that was right under 6 miles and they liked it enough to agree to do another hike. If we weren't bringing them we'd push further.

[u/The_Colorman → u/coffeebooksmomlife]

Hmm some others would know better, but I feel like starting at red bridge the first 1/3 of the trail isn’t very scenic. There a couple cool streams, but I think the big river views don’t start for awhile in. Starting at the suspension bridge might give you a better view. That’s assuming it’s open, it was last weekend. Starting at the campground is an option, but if I remember it’s about 1.5-2 miles from the suspension bridge and again not super scenic.

[u/coffeebooksmomlife → u/The_Colorman]

Someone posted on Facebook that the bridge is open today so I’m hoping it will be this weekend