Today we ventured to Michigan looking for a new place to hike. What we found was the Litchfield Nature Trail in Litchfield, Michigan which is part of the North Country Trail that spans several states.
Our Adventure
After parking at Firemen’s Park we walked past the playground equipment toward the bench and turned left where the gravel path ended. This took us to a mowed grass trail behind some homes. We followed that to some concrete blocks and turned left as directed by the arrow. This led us (finally!) into the woods.
We were happy to enter the woods as this was much more scenic than walking behind homes with views and the noise of Tenneco Company. Finally we had views of trees. The trail changed from packed dirt back to the mowed grass and then we exited the woods to a field with trees and the river on one side and tall grass, trees, and other vegetation on the other side.
As we continued walking we found a bench that was a great spot for a water break and to look at the beauty around us.
After a quick break we started back on the trail and re-entered the woods. Again we enjoyed the beauty of the trees and being in the woods, but it didn’t last long before we were back out in the open. We continued past the broken tree stump and back into the woods. After a short distance we decided it was time to turn around and head back to the parking lot.
Our total hike was just over 3M, but we could have continued a little further as the total length of the Litchfield Nature Trail is 3.4M.
Sunny’s Perspective
I thought the start of this hike was a little boring since we were just walking behind some homes. It got much better when we finally entered the woods. There were a lot of great smells and we even saw some deer that ran away into the woods. I really wanted to run with them, but had to stay on the trail. The best parts were when we were in the woods since the grass made my feet really wet!
Our Rating
Sunny and I rate the Litchfield Nature Trail 2.5 out of 4 paws up. It’s not a bad trail, we just prefer hiking in the woods to open prairie. It’s also a fairly long drive (over an hour) when we have other trails that we prefer closer to us. If you live in the area, this would be a great place to get back to nature especially since we nearly had the trail to ourselves the whole time we were on it.
How Do I Get There?
Take I-69N to Michigan and exit at Jonesboro Road. Follow Jonesboro Road for about 10 miles then turn left onto M-49 North. Continue for 4 miles and the park is on the left. Once you park, walk on the gravel path past the playground equipment and turn left on the grass trail that goes behind the homes.