Denton, Ogemaw, Rose City, or St. Helen Trails?

[Smit-Dog]

We're going to a friend's cottage on Secord Lake near West Branch. Bringing the bikes to see if the boy and I can sneak out for a ride on Sunday.

Looks like the closest trail systems are:

1) St. Helen
2) Denton
3) Ogemaw / Ambrose / Rose City

Having never ridden any of these, looking for some recommendations. Trying to avoid sandy, whooped out, wide-open trails. Looking for tighter, dark woods single track. I'm plated, but my son is not. A 40-50 mile ride would be perfect.

Thanks!

 

[2TrakR]

Option 3 would be closest to your preferred trail. Ogemaw County is also open to ORVs on county roads north of M-55, so you can run into Rose City for gas/food.

 

[KTM Mike]

The connector between Ambrose and Rose City loops is newish trail - a year or so ago was rather nice stuff! (I am sure it shows much more use now)

And see, with 2trakrs comment - you are factoring in issues such as ORV road access to services to base a riding/vacation decision on! (see thread on Oscoda county!)

 

[Smit-Dog]

Thanks guys! Looks like Ogemaw / Ambrose / Rose City is it!

And the kid will get a kick out of riding into town for lunch.... And I'll leave a big tip.

 

[twlobb]

It seems like they're all sandy and whooped out for the first couple miles out from the trail head but some loops definitely smooth out more than others.

I've ridden St. Helen and Rose City and i think you'll like both.

Ogemaw also has that privately owned riding area...i think it's called Ogemaw Track & Trail or something like that. They have two mx tracks and some trails and hills. It used to be $5 to ride all day but now they've bumped it all the way up to $25/day.

Gladwin (which i realize is not on your list) is bad. Sandy and whooped pretty much throughout.

There's another loop called Liota (spelling?) not too far from that area. Very nice loop.

 

[2TrakR]

SmitDog -
Take this map with you to know which roads are "county roads" and thus open to your travel. Especially note the route into/through the town of Rose City as they have a designated route into/out of town.
Clear Lake (just off Ambrose Lake) has food, if you are closer to it during your travels. They didn't have gas last I was through there.
Useful map:
http://www.gldsmc.org/public/Ogemaw County ORV Townships 3-12-05.pdf

 

[Smit-Dog]

Thanks for the map! :cool:

 

[FLEM]

we rode the ogemaw ,rose city,ambrose lake and the connector the connectr is rough, it has been widened to quad width, with the change of rules in the county, the trail has stumps in the widened trail so its hard to get a rythyn but there really isn't too many whoops

 

[Smit-Dog]

Well.... We ended up staging at the Ambrose Lake campground and rode north. Hit a brief section of the Ambrose Lake trail, then took the connector up to the Rose City loop. The connector isn't all that long or all that nice. It has well-formed quad grooves all along it. You have your choice of the left wheel rut, or the right wheel rut. Most times you're jumping between them, depending on line selection. They're worse in the corners, probably from blasting out of them. It wasn't uncommon to feel the outer edge of your boot rub along the lips of the ruts in the turns. Once we crossed over Rose City Road, it got better. Other than the 3 riders we saw heading south on the connector, we didn't see a soul over 4 hours and 30 miles of trail.

The trail was basically quad-wide the entire way. Not much sand, other than 2 big hillclimbs. My son's CRF-100 just didn't have the conjones to make it up these hills. Even dad had to wring that thing out like a rented moped to get up them. We also came across a nice downhill rock garden, two lines to take with some erosion thrown in the mix. My son's downhill riding technique up to this point had been "feet out and squeeze the front brake". This particular downhill helped to break that habit. The rocks were smooth, and sized anywhere from baseballs to melons. A little intimidating for an 11 year old on a smaller bike. So we shut the bike off, put it in 1st, and used the clutch and engine for braking on the rocky decent. The bike had a hard time moving downhill with the clutch out.... might have proven how powerful the rear brake can be when it's used. Spent quite a bit of time on that downhill, but the experience was well worth it. Next time we'll tackle it going uphill!

We ended up riding north to Gilford Ranch Trail (it's a 2-track), then back down south to Ambrose, taking the east side of the loop this time. By the time we hit Rose City Road on the way back, we didn't have the time to ride the 5-6 miles into town for food. Staging was only 20 minutes away at that point, and we had to get back to Secord Lake to pack up. It's a nice option to have available, but it would have added an extra 45-60 minutes to do it.

Before heading out, I printed out the ORV map provided by 2TrakR and grabbed my GPS. I couldn't find the latest CCC mapbook, and the older version I did find wasn't as good as 2TrakR's map. If I didn't have that map and the GPS, we would have surely of gotten lost. We came across a ton of ORV, route, 2 track, and snowmobile crossings. The orange triangles were spotty, and there are a handful of 2-track sections that are used to connect the ORV trail. The map from 2TrakR has most of the major and minor roads labeled, but out there in the woods they're not marked at all. At each crossing, I'd dig out the GPS, and the road name would pop up so that I knew where I was on the map, and which way to go next. We didn't have the time to sightsee and explore, so being able to stay on the right trail was key.

The next time we ride in this area, we'll stage again out of Ambrose, but head south instead. Met some riders crossing over Fairview Road on the way up to staging, and they said the loop south off Ambrose (Ogemaw I guess) was really nice; zero whoops, very little sand, and somewhat technical.

Overall a great weekend. Got to combine some family boating time with some father and son riding time... :ride:

 

[ellandoh]

http://www.ogemawtrails.com/

 

[Smit-Dog]

This shows a better idea of one area we rode through, and the variances in detail of the maps available.... lots of crossings and alternative routes to take.

Here's a close up view of the Rose City loop taken from the DNR map. Take a look at all the route crossings in sections 20, 21, 28, and 29.

Here's a detail of section 29 on the DNR map. I put in the names of the 2 tracks (they're not on the map):

Here's a detail of the same section from the Ogemaw County ORV map. It had most of the major crossings labeled, but it was spotty in some sections.

Here's the same section as shown on my Garmin GPS. It too has most of the major crossings, but was also spotty in areas.

Now here's Mapblast, a mapping application designed primarily for road travel. Shows all major crossings, and all the minor 2 tracks, old logging roads, snowmobile trails, etc. The best detail and route labeling of them all.

Now even if you have a map with all the detail and major routes labeled, when you're out in the woods it doesn't do you much good because the signage just isn't there (and understandably so). While it would be fun to explore them all one day, for this ride, the GPS was invaluable.

I'm getting an updated version of MapSource City Select v7.0 in a few weeks. Hopefully some of these spotty areas will be more up-to-date. The Garmin TOPO software is useless as far as displaying and identifying any of these routes.

In a perfect world, we'd have the detail and accuracy of the Mapblast maps used for all the DNR ORV maps, and the Garmin MapSource maps would also be based on Mapblast. Seems to me that Garmin and the DNR needs to partner with a more up-to-date and detailed mapping partner like Mapblast or their provider.

I also tried the tracking feature of the GPS for the first time. Pretty cool, as the pattern of the "breadcrumb" trail left behind allowed me to line it up with the ORV trail on the paper map. It was in my fanny pack, and the satellite reception was too weak to track in some areas. Also need a way to lock down the buttons on the unit so movement doesn't cause the keys to depress.

 

[2TrakR]

I heard the connector was getting beat up, didn't realize the ruts were so bad already... You should try that downhill on the Rose City loop in the winter with a foot of crusty snow thrown in for good measure.

I made the Ogemaw ORV map, you'll note the absence of two-tracks and non-county roads on that map - it's intentional. If it's not on the map, it's not legal for ORVs.
Here's the GPS map you could have in your GPS if you order the CCC Member Map CD (which I just gave to Bill on Saturday, we've not figured out the cost for duplication/handling quite yet).

As seen on your GPS screen:

and here's what your mapbook would have shown you:

While the scale is different, you'll notice the data is basically the same which it is ;-)

 

[Smit-Dog]

That GPS screen shot rocks! :cool:

Who do I pay, and how much do I send? Garmin compatible I'm assuming... anything else I need (eTrex Legend C w/ MapSource City Select N.A.)?

So then, without divulging all your secrets ( ;) ), where'd you get the base map shown on that GPS screen shot? It's very close to the MapBlast version, and looks like it has even better detail. Thanks for taking the lead on being the main cartographer / GPS'er for all this stuff.... really looking forward to using it!

Now I wish I could find that 2005 CCC map book... will have to clean out the office.

 

[KTM Mike]

Bill - sounds like you and Zach had a good time! Boy, the last time i rode that connector - was zero ruts and was fun trail - actually had a hard time picking it out in a couple of spots!

Man, you and 2trakr....techno wizards of DRN! I love them gadgets to, but just cant seem to figure them out like you two can! Some neat stuff and hard work went into all them maps!

 

[2TrakR]

Who do I pay, and how much do I send? Garmin compatible I'm assuming... anything else I need (eTrex Legend C w/ MapSource City Select N.A.)?

It will be a check to the CCC and it will be announced in the GL TrailRider soon. When I know, I'll post a note here.
I offered the product to the club on 2 conditions; first was that they would only charge shipping/handling and second was that I would get an honorary membership (ie lifetime) even though I'm already paid up to 2010. I'm thinking the cost will be $25, but it's not settled yet. There are two sets of maps available. One is just the trails and will work on darn near any Garmin mapping GPS. The trails can be loaded with your current Garmin map product, such as City Select and the trails appear as part of your map. The other is for those who have not purchased one of the Garmin maps and wants the detail. It IS the CCC mapbook with all the roads, rivers, lakes, gas stations, trails and so on. That set of maps takes up just under 24 meg. It's in 4 parts, so those with less map memory can load one quadrant of the State.
I wanted to also have the Magellan version done too, but that's taking longer than I hoped.

So then, without divulging all your secrets ( ;) ), where'd you get the base map shown on that GPS screen shot?

It's based on GIS data available from the State. http://www.michigan.gov/cgi/ is a good start; look under the Geographic Data Library

Now I wish I could find that 2005 CCC map book... will have to clean out the office.

That Member Map CD has the full mapbook on it so you can print your field copies as needed.

 

[Smit-Dog]

... I offered the product to the club on 2 conditions; first was that they would only charge shipping/handling and second was that I would get an honorary membership (ie lifetime) even though I'm already paid up to 2010.

:worship: Thanks man!

... It's based on GIS data available from the State. http://www.michigan.gov/cgi/ is a good start; look under the Geographic Data Library

I could spend days at that site... wow. I am continually impressed with the quality and amount of information on Michigan's state government web site.

Here's a shot of the track recorded on the loop we rode. I think all kinds of buttons were being pressed while inside my fanny pack. There were about 20 other duplicate mini tracks recorded too that I ended up deleting.

And here's a shot at the end of that rocky decent...

 

[WildBill]

Bill,

It's a shame that that connector has gotten that beat up. I think that it is only about two years old. We stumbled across it shortly after Bent Wheels cut it in and were it not for the ribbons, I thought we were seriously off trail. We also happened to meet up with the BW's president that day just before we came to the connector from Rose City towards Ambrose. Had it not been for him, we probably would have missed it entirely.

Sounds like a great ride, thanks for sharing.