Tunnel of Trees- M-119

[Guest]

I have just returned from our Midwest "F" ride in Petosky/Harbor Springs Michigan. One of the most scenic roads I have EVER been on. I have covered my home state pretty good but sadly never up on this road. I cannot wait to return. I Highly recommend it. In the Fall it will be alit w/ colors from all the maples.

[argonsagas]

I have just returned from our Midwest "F" ride in Petosky/Harbor Springs Michigan. One of the most scenic roads I have EVER been on. I have covered my home state pretty good but sadly never up on this road. I cannot wait to return. I Highly recommend it. In the Fall it will be alit w/ colors from all the maples.

We are fortunate to have several roads like this near here, but they are not highways and are not always easy to find.

The nearest to here (and the most spectacular in fall) is just a small roadway, nothing more than dirt and gravel, and unknown to most people who pass by it without knowing it is there at all, as it looks like an unpaved driveway, not a road, and has ominous signs saying it is impassable when wet or in winter.

The sign speaks the truth for most drivers: you had better have good tires and VERY good skills if you wish to challenge the warning in those times.


It is accessed by turning off a well-travelled dirt/gravel roadway and dropping almost immediately into the trees, so you ride along a rutted dirt pathway, only wide enough for one regular size vehicle, ignoring the sign that says inaccessible in winter, and you get treated to the good possibility of seeing a deer or two on the sunny meadow beside you as you glance through the trees to the right.

If you are on a bike, it is best to shut off the engine and coast downhill.

In a car, open the windows and hold the brake.


Other than that, it is all trees ahead and to the left, with a full canopy overhead and all the way down into and then along the floor of the valley for about a half-mile. Every second it changes as the sun's rays punch brilliant, warm, holes through the deep, cool, shade, adding a spectacle of smaller plants, perhaps animals, captured each moment in the solar spotlights.

It is all enhanced by the seeming silence, as there is no sound of human life, but the quiet abundance of sounds from animals, birds and the many insects singing in the trees beside you.

A little farther on and you reach a small farm where swans are being raised, while to the left (sometimes) are occasional horses. In fall it is a delight to stop if the horses are there because wild apples are available right across the road and the horses love them.

[rwnielsen]

That was a pleasure to read
Thank you

[Phred]

Across the river from Ottawa, the Gatineau parkway is a nice ride. Lots of hills, trees and huge rocks. You can stop at the Kingsmere estate, built by Mackenzie King, or travel up further for a panoramic view of the city and surrounding areas. There is a hiking trail at Black lake that takes you to the edge of an escarpment, with a 600 ft drop. I have seen hang gliders take off from here occasionally. The trees are stunted here as there is a climate change. The ride is nice as well, lots of curves. Nice way to spend and evening, just to get away from it all.