I parked the truck at North Beach Park and hopped on the fat bike. My plan was to ride to the trailhead at Coast Guard Park then on through the North Ottawa Dunes up to Hoffmaster State Park. Then just into Hoffmaster drop down to the beach and loop back along the Lake Michigan shore. By doing it this way, I had the only road section of the ride first to warm up.

If you are hiking this route I would recommend taking the stairs up and over the dune behind North Beach Park that connect to the North Ottawa Dune Trails. At the top there is a nice view of Lake Michigan and the Grand Haven channel to the south.

Directions to North Beach Park >>

This loop ended up coming in at just under 6 miles and it took me about an hour to complete on the bike. However, with the temperature a little above freezing and soft snow the ride actually felt much longer.

For more stats from the ride click the (?) icon on the map. To download the .KML file of the track, click on the "view larger map" link above and look for the button in the information column on the left of the page.

The trails in North Ottawa Dunes are very well marked with numbered posts and maps at all the intersections.

Back to North Beach Park. Sorry for so many pics of the bike...it was the only good looking subject I had on this trip. Riding back on the beach was really nice. The light breeze was at my back and the sun was warm enough that I could take off gloves, roll up my sleeves and soak it all in. The extra fat tires on the Surly Moonlander handled the 3 to 4 inches of snow on the shore without a problem.

For more information on the North Ottawa Dune see page 2 of the PDF document above or visit the Ottawa County Parks and Recreation Page.

After visiting the dunes make sure to continue down to the end of North Shore Drive and check out the North Pier of the Grand Haven channel. At the end of North Shore Drive stay to the right and there is small fishermen's parking area with access to the walk along the water.