This ambitious bike-optimized singletrack trail circumnavigates Hardy Dam Pond, operated by Consumers Energy Electric.
While the Dragon might form one continuous loop, it's far from a boring, flat XC trail of yore. Instead, the West Michigan Mountain Bike Alliance (WMMBA) hired professional builders to design and construct the trail. Jeremy Whimpy of Applied Trails Research did the design and layout, while Alex Stewart of Spectrum Trail Design did the construction. Stewart has built many famous trails across the Midwest, including Brown County State Park and some of the first mountain bike trails built in a national park.
"We’re talking purpose-built, feature-rich, natural surface... like berms, turns, rock features, everything. So when you ride it, it is, to me, 45 miles of an absolute dirt roller coaster," said Dan Frayer, President of the WMMBA.
The 45-mile loop is divided into 11 different segments, each of which has unique characteristics. Some segments are easier and flowier, while others are rockier and more feature-rich. "Section seven, which was the last piece to get completed, has I don’t know how many tons of rock outcroppings... it’s rock-armored as far as you can see," said Frayer. "Sections eight and nine are probably, to me, the most feature-rich... we're talking professionally built stuff that you can get a little rowdy if you want."
"There are three ravines back in there that are entirely rock, big slabs of sandstone that we had to bring in... it’s just freaking beautiful," said Martin Hall, Trail Coordinator for the Dragon.. "You're looking down the ravine, out to the pond. There’s 13 major overlooks [where] you can stop on your bike... it’s pretty damn nice."
This is an awesome trail!! Great for beginners to seasoned riders. Fast and flowy. One of my top 3 in Michigan
| ThankRode segments #8-11, and loved it. Found it to be a really well designed flow track, with well designed segments of climbs and fun downhills. The scenery is hard to beat, with much of it following the lake / hardy dam, and then segments will dive into the woods for some climbs. There were some really well designed downhill parts with rock drops/jumps. My only personal downside is that with a trail this long, the trail is bi-directional, and there were many a close-call with riders whipping around tight corners and nearly smoking each other. Hard to fix on a long, non-looping trail. Otherwise, this has the potential to be one of the most awesome trails in MI, even in it's early stages right now.
| ThankThis should be one of Michigan’s top rated trails
| Thank