Bass River Recreation Area

I was pleasantly surprised after my ride here today. Take the connector path to the trail from the parking lot. The trail is directional by day, which is nice. The trail is mostly flat, with only tiny climbs, and was pretty well maintained. There was a tiny bit of sand, but not enough to ruin your day. A mild/moderate amount of roots to keep things technical, a good handful of banked turns and 5-6 log rides as well. The flow/speed is a little harder to keep up because there are so many tight turns between narrow trees. An overall worthwhile fun ride if you're in the area.

Fun trail. Great for beginners since there are mo big hills to climb. Lots and lots of twists and turns through the trees. Great way to learn handlebar control.

This is a nice ride, no real elevation change and lots of sharp twisting turns. It was scenic in the fall, not well marked but easy to follow. Not very fast or challenging but good for beginners.

This was my first time on a mountain bike since I was a kid (and hadn't done nearly this level of riding back then). There were three trails, gaining in difficulty as you went. Loop 1 was easy and short, 2 was a little more difficult, and 3 was pretty long with lots of tight trees, turns, short hill climbs, and optional log piles. There are also gravel roads and two-tracks here to explore on, but you may encounter vehicle traffic.

Twisty singletrack through dense woods. Not difficult, not fast, mostly flat with some small hills, (more like dirt mounds) but a fun trail nonetheless. Adrenaline junkies should look elsewhere. Great trail to take your newbie friends or kids. Beautiful wooded area.

Worth a ride! Definitely a unique area for the locale. Sandy, but a few technical ruts and small climbs. Nothing that would give mtb thrill, but the scenery and unique birch savanna and river bayou sites will be rewarding!

Did not ride. Turned back after hunters were spotted. No signs to indicate hunting area. Be warned!

Hard to find and not well marked

Suppppper easy, but super sandy. Maybe sure you have a decent bike with mtb tires. My Freud. Did this in a crossover and slid out

Flat and windy. Hard to build any speed. Good for a beginner or if you are close by with your bike and want to pedal a bit. Wouldn't go out of my way to bike here. Hard to get the heart rate up. Don't stop too much or the deer flies will attack.

Really enjoyed it actually...definitely not a major workout but a fun, tight trail with several log piles. Would do it again.

West Michigan boast a large array of single track and the best perpose for this trail is ease of acces for new riders. I have introduced countless novices to the sport via this trail. It offers true tight single trac, just enough rollers to practice pumping, and a lack of soul crishing climbs. Best use: introducing your significant other to true MTB without pain.

Fair review. I like Bass for the reasons you pointed out as well. I did want to suggest you try the new Upper Macatawa trail in Zeeland. Its not entirely complete, yet, but from parking lot to parking lot its about a 4.5 mile ride. There's a 3/4 mile trail from the parking lot up to the loop start, and then you can do a few loops before heading back to the parking lot for 60-90 minutes of riding no problem. There's more elevation there than Bass River, but still pretty technical.

Make sure you wait until the river goes down - I went early spring and basically rode through lakes the whole time. I dont know if I missed the trail but i felt like i was riding on grass more than single track.

This was a close trail to home when I lived in MI. It is a small trail that was great to ride on a week night when traveling was not possible. Not much elevation change but it a trail that will challenge you in other aspects. The trail is tight and the faster you ride it the more skill required to navigate through it. If you are looking for a ride that wont take up much time but will get you in the saddle it will do the trick.

This is a good trail to take a beginner or someone who needs work on bike handling skills. There is pretty much no elevation on the entire trail. The north loop is pretty nice with only a few hairpin turns. The south loop is flowy and fast. The east loop is VERY tight and twisty which doesn't allow you to build any speed. Overall the trail is okay, but the mosquitoes are terrible and the trail gets overgrown quite easily.

The singletrack trails are tight and twisty, but they are short and there is little to no elevation change. This would be a good place for a beginner to get some good practice and have some fun.
I wouldn't go out of the way to get to these trails, but I'd be thrilled to have them in my neighborhood.