Added on August 26, 2019 Sara Swanson

Manchester features more than 25 miles of hiking trails

Decrease Font Size Increase Font Size Text Size Print This Page Send by Email

COUNTY-CROSSING BORDER-TO-BORDER TRAIL EXPANDS

Recently, the Border-to-Border Trail (B2B) has been in the news again with the exciting ground breaking of the Chelsea-Stockbridge connector. The B2B is a non-motorized pathway that runs through the northern part of the county, connecting Stockbridge, Chelsea, Dexter, Barton Hills, Ann Arbor, and Ypsilanti. More than 40 miles of trail already exists with 70 miles planned. Although there is no plan to connect Manchester to the B2B, we already have a bounty of public hiking trails; more than 25 miles worth in fact, with more in the works!

MANCHESTER HAS A LOT OF TRAILS

Manchester Village’s multi-use trail runs 1.3 miles bordering the Leonard Preserve at the western Village limit and running along a dis-used rail bed to just beyond Hibbard Street on the east edge of the Village. The trail is a combination of pavement and gravel and is bisected by the River Raisin which requires a bypass on the sidewalk to cross the river on the Main Street Bridge. (With the sidewalk bypass, the total length of the trail is about 2 miles.) Dogs on leashes and bikes are allowed on the trail in addition to foot traffic.
Sharon Mills Park has 3.8 miles of trail. In addition to foot traffic, they allow mountain biking. Dogs are allowed on leashes. The trailhead is not accessed from the parking lot near the Mill site but is instead accessible from the west side of Sharon Hollow Road (north of Pleasant Lake Road). These trails connect to trails in the Nan Weston Nature Preserve.
The Nan Weston Preserve at Sharon Hollow, owned by The Nature Conservancy, has about three miles of trails. They allow only foot traffic–no biking or horseback riding–and pets are not allowed, even on leashes (service dogs are okay). To get to the preserve, turn west on Pleasant Lake Road and follow it for 3.2 miles to Sharon Hollow Road. Turn west, then north on Sharon Hollow Road, and follow it to Easudes Road. Turn west and travel 0.9 miles on Easudes Road. You will see the preserve sign on the south side of the road. A small parking lot is available at the trailhead.
Sharon Hills Preserve is owned by the Land Legacy Conservancy and features 2.2 miles of trails. Dogs are permitted on a leash. Bicycles are not permitted, but horseback riding is. The Sharon Hills Preserve is located on Sharon Hollow Road between Walker and Washburn Roads.

The remaining trails are all located within nature preserves owned and managed by the county. All of these trails prohibit dogs, biking, and horseback riding:

Sharon Short Hills Preserve has .98 miles of trails. From M-52 north of the village, turn west on Grass Lake Road then turn south on Hashley Road. The preserve is on the west side of the road after 0.6 miles.
Clark & Avis Spike Preserve has .68 miles of trail, which includes boardwalks, benches, and an observation platform. From M-52 turn west on Grass Lake Road. The preserve is on the north side of the road after 1.29 miles.
Brauer Preserve has 2.25 miles of trails. The preserve parking area is on the right (west) side of Parker Road, approximately 0.2 miles south of Waters Road
Leonard Preserve offers 4.2 miles of trails. (The trailhead is immediately off of the parking lot; it is sometimes muddy and may require boots.) To get to the preserve, turn north off of Main Street onto Union Street. The preserve entrance is at the end of Union Street; when the street bears left and turns to gravel you will see the preserve entry sign. Keep going–parking area on the right.
Ervin-Stucki Preserve has .35 miles of trail, which includes boardwalks and an observation platform. From Austin Road, take a right onto Clinton Road. The preserve access point is on the west side of Clinton, approximately 0.6 miles south of Austin, directly opposite Burmeister Road.
Riverbend Preserve has .9 miles of trails which include benches and an observation platform. From M-52, head east on Austin Road (just south of Manchester), then turn south (right) on Clinton Road for 4.1 miles. Make a sharp right turn onto Allen Road The preserve is immediately on the west side of the road.
Watkins Lake County Preserve and State Park features 5.8 miles of trails, including five miles that follow a former rail bed. To get to Watkins Lake, from West Austin Road take Sharon Hollow Road south to Herman Road, then Herman west to Horning Road. Take a right onto Horning, and in .2 miles, turn right onto Arnold Road. The parking lot will be on your right past the lake. A Recreation Passport is required for use of the parking lot.

STUDY SAYS MANCHESTER WANTS MORE TRAILS

Trails are currently very desirable features in communities. According to the Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation 5-year Plan for 2020-2024, the draft of which has just been released, both paved and unpaved multi-use trails were identified by Washtenaw County residents as the top two of all possible facilities on which County Parks and Recreation should focus. More than one-third of respondents identified each as a top priority. This is not just a priority in the urban parts of the county, either. The county was broken up into sections by geography to assure even distribution of respondents and the Manchester-area identified paved trails as our top priority, with canoe and kayak launch sites as our second, and unpaved trails as our third. In their conclusion the County states, “When analyzing the facilities offered by Washtenaw County, paved and unpaved multi‐use trails were the facilities for which the highest number of residents has a need. The facilities that were the most important to households were paved and unpaved multi‐use trails, playgrounds, and nature centers. Focusing on paved and unpaved multi‐use trails would provide the greatest benefit for the largest number of residents within the County.”

NEW TRAILS ARE COMING, AND MORE ARE POSSIBLE

Bringing more trails to the Manchester area is being pursued on multiple fronts.

The most well-publicized effort is the work Manchester Township is doing in conjunction with the the State of Michigan, Washtenaw County, and the Village to connect Watkins Lake to the Village by trail. A similar effort is occurring in Brooklyn to connect Watkins Lake to the Village of Brooklyn by trail. A meeting was held last month in the Village Room in Manchester. The DNR, County Parks, Manchester Township, Village of Manchester, Brooklyn area representatives, representatives from Carlisle/Wortman, and others were present. The Manchester portion of the project was discussed, as was the status of the engineering phase. Another meeting will be held in Brooklyn at the end of September.

A less-discussed opportunity for an interconnected trail in the Manchester Area would also require collaboration between the State, the County and a third organization. Sharonville State Game Area is another public area open to hiking but lacks groomed trails. It borders the Nan Weston Preserve which itself borders Sharon Mills Park. In their Master Plan two years ago, the State of Michigan noted the desire among neighboring conservation land managers to establish a trail that would come from Washtenaw County Parks’ Sharon Mills County Park, through The Nature Conservancy Nan Weston Preserve, onto the Sharonville SGA. The report states, “If a trail were to be established, it would be a mowed trail that would be open to foot traffic only.”

While Manchester is excluded from the B2B trail as it connects the communities in the northern part of the county, a potential opportunity exists to connect Manchester to Adrian through Lenawee County communities. Currently The Kiwanis Trail, an eight-mile paved trail, runs between Adrian and Tecumseh, occupying a disused railroad bed. The trail is currently the only open component of a much longer proposed regional greenway trail, the River Raisin Greenway, which would roughly follow the River Raisin north from Adrian to Manchester.