The mountain bikes are put away for the season and now the fat bikes are out. West Michigan has dozens of amazing places to ride a fat bike! From groomed singletrack to our beautiful shoreline, here are our favorite places to ride!

The Dragon-It’s a great spot for fun riding all year round! There are currently 22 miles of groomed trails making it the largest amount of groomed trails in Lower Michigan. We love the views of Hardy Dam Pond, the flow of the trail, and of course, hanging out at a campfire at Dragon Adventures Base Camp after! Be sure to follow Newaygo County Exploring or The Dragon Trail Facebook pages to get grooming and trail updates.

Glacial Hills-North usually means great snow! Glacial Hills Pathway in Bellaire is some excellent fat biking! With 31.5 miles of trails that are flowy and fun, you’re going to find a trail that you’ll like! Make a weekend of it and stay at this awesome VRBO A-frame cabin! There are also some great breweries nearby and awesome snowshoeing too.

Cadillac-A little closer to northern/central MI, Cadillac is home to some really fun fat bike trails! These are groomed to perfection and are one of our favorite day trip spots! Managed by NMMBA, the trail is kept in great shape and there is a roaring fire maintained by them as well for a pre or post-ride gathering spot.

Merrell Trail-One of Grand Rapids’ best MTB trails is also one of the best fat bike trails. When groomed and trails are in great shape, Merrell is a blast! If you want to hit up multiple trails in the area, Cannonsburg is also great and not that far down the road.

The Beach-Grand Haven or Holland-One of the most unique things about Michigan in the winter is riding the Lake Michigan shoreline on a fat bike! When the sand gets all crusty and frozen and there’s icebergs, snow, and no people, it makes for a good time! The scenery can’t be beat either! Some of our favorite ways to enjoy fat biking the beach are either riding Riley Trails in Holland to the beach or biking a few miles down the Grand Haven beach and enjoying some beverages after in one of the many great spots downtown Grand Haven! Either way, it’s a blast!

There are so many great spots for fat biking that we haven’t even covered! Michigan is truly a winter wonderland for fat bikers and getting out and hitting any trail definitely beats being on a trainer! You can find more fat bike videos and trails on our YouTube channel playlist! Keep an eye out too for group rides and other fun fat biking events on our Facebook page.

Mark Deering