Michigan ATV Trail Guide
When you’re deciding where to ride ATVs in Michigan, you have a ton of options. The state is home to thousands of acres of national forests and parks dedicated to ATV and UTV riding trails with many beautiful vistas and lakeside viewing, making it an excellent destination for off-roading any time of year. It’s also a very popular pastime here, with lots of places to ride for free, and the ATV riders are welcome in many counties around the state. We’ve only highlighted a very few popular Michigan ATV trails, but there are many other great areas throughout the state for ATV and UTV trail riding adventures. Here at Treadworld, we have the ATV tires you need for wherever your adventures take you. Don’t hesitate to contact our tire experts via live chat or email with any questions you may have, and to get the ideal Master ATV and UTV Tires for you.
Bundy Hill Off-Road Park
Location: 9960 E. Chicago Rd, Jerome, MI
Website: https://bundyhilloffroad.com/
A family-friendly Michigan off-road park offering a huge 300-acre wilderness area with a diversity of terrain and conditions, including sandy dunes, loose dirt, wooded trails, mud bogs, gravel pits, hills, rock challenges, and root-packed trails. Trails are graded green, black, blue and red for difficulty, and provide challenges for all levels of ATV riding experience. A new dirt track recently opened for kids, dirt bikes and quads.
Holly Oaks ORV Park
Location: Enter at Mt. Holly Ski Resort: 13536 Dixie Hwy, Holly, MI
Website: https://www.oakgov.com/parks/parksandtrails/holly-oaks-orv-park/Pages/default.aspx
One of the newer ATV parks in Michigan, Holly Oaks opened in 2020 with 106 acres of off-road trails with plans to double that area in the near future. The park consists of former and active sand and gravel mines and offers ATV riding trails marked by challenges, steep hill climbs, deep water crossings, rock boulder and slab crawls and more. You’ll also find a 9,000-square-foot peak, called Mt. Magna, designed to echo the experience of popular, massive rock formations that can be found in Moab, Utah.
Huron-Manistee National Forests
Location: Lower peninsula Michigan, 1755 S Mitchell St, Cadillac, MI
Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/hmnf
Covering nearly more than 978 thousand acres, including 5,786 acres of wetlands between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, the Huron and Manistee National Forests were combined in 1945 for administrative purposes. 90% of the forest roads are open to off-roading. Some of the most popular trails include the 24-mile Cedar Creek Trail with flat to challenging rolling terrain that includes two bridge crossings and two sandy loops; the Bull Gap ORV trail which has 115 miles of ATV trails made up of mostly hilly terrain thru oak, jack pine, and other hardwoods; and Little O and Big O trails which combine for 139 miles Offering a number of terrain types, including sandy flatlands, rolling hills, open meadows and thickly-wooded forests, and also connecting with hundreds of miles of other trails.
Keweenaw ATV Trails
Location: Northernmost part of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
Website: https://www.keweenaw.info/recreation/atv-trails/
Over 160 miles of trails include riding the coastline of Lake Superior. Many of those 4-wheeler trails use old railway grades that were built to transport copper ore and timber that can be very rocky and tricky in spots. Terrain here ranges from marshy areas along lakes or swamps to rocky bluffs that offer amazing views. Most of the trails offer sandy terrain expect to find mudding trails or standing water. Keep an eye open for ghost towns as the trails run through the ruins of former mining towns churned out copper ore in 1800s and early 1900s.
The Mounds
Location: 6145 E. Mt. Morris Road, Mt. Morris, MI
Website: https://geneseecountyparks.org/mounds/
Here ATV and UTV riders can enjoy 118 acres of wilderness, much of it uncompromising to challenge every level of ATV trail riding skill, with all types of terrain, soft and sandy, forested, hard pack, with small to medium-sized ponds. You’ll find twisting scramble trails, gravel and sand pits, some mud bogs and several rocky areas.
Ottawa National Forest
Location: Bruce Crossing, MI
Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/ottawa
The almost 1 million acres, extending from the south shore of Lake Superior to the Wisconsin border, this National Forest includes over 2,300 miles of Forest Service roads and trails open to ATV and UTV trail riding. With hardwood forest land with rolling hills dotted with lakes, rivers and eighteen waterfalls, the area is rich in wildlife and offers spectacular viewing of fall colors.
Silver Lake State Park Scramble Area
Location: 9679 W. State Park Road, Mears MI
Website: https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-350-79119_79148_80314_80651—,00.html
Here you’ll find 2,000 acres of sand dunes, the only sand dune riding opportunity east of the Mississippi River. along the shores of Lake Michigan along with a 450-acre ORV scramble area. The scramble area consists of three major sections – the twisty trails, the flatlands, and the directional high-dunes. Each section provides different challenges for 4-wheeler riders. Overall, the park encompasses 3,000 acres along the Lake Michigan shoreline.
Turtle Ridge Off-Road Park/Drummond Island
Location: 33494 S Maxton Rd #9545, Drummond, MI
Website: https://www.visitdrummondisland.com/off-roading.html
Turtle Ridge is an ORV park and wildlife preserve located on Drummond Island out in Lake Huron offering over 500 miles of prime ATV trails, many carved out of the island’s natural limestone. You’ll find that the trails on Drummond to be some of the most scenic and rugged in Michigan. Plus, Drummond’s DNR sponsored trail system is the largest closed loop off-road vehicle system in the state. With over 100 miles of off-road routes, there’s a lot to explore, including routes that run along stone ridges carved out by Lake Huron and the last Ice Age, and loops that take you near the shores of Lake Huron with distant views of the Canadian shore. Many trails are set deep into the woods, while others lend themselves to extended rides.
Twisted Trails Off-Road Park
Location: 19405 Read Road, Copemish, MI
Website: https://twistedtrailsoffroadpark.com
One of the most popular off-road parks in Michigan, Twisted Trails provides family-friendly off-roading and off-road racing with miles of wooded trails, scattered mud bogs, open play areas and rocks, concrete and tires obstacles to crawl over. A variety of terrain, including hills, rocks, some loose dirt, hard pack, a few small jumps and a few gravel pits.