Hoist Lakes Foot Travel Area is a 7.8 mile lightly trafficked loop trail located near Barton City, Michigan that features a lake and is rated as moderate. The trail is primarily used for hiking and backpacking. Dogs are also able to use this trail.
Great hike & beautiful lakes! The only rough spots were between marker 14 to 2 & 2 to 1 where there were lots of downed trees blocking the trail that haven't been cleaned up yet.
Slightly overgrown in some spots but quite dry. Good hills.
I added the Byron and No Name Lakes loop from the western portion of Hoist, which made the hike out to 12 miles. The eastern portion of the eastern Hoist Lakes loop is very overgrown. Legs should be covered. Beautiful hike! Careful for ticks.
It was a fun hike with my daughter once we got about a 1/4 mile in. The mosquitos were relentless. We arrived at camp and got camp all set up. I was pretty excited until I had pulled 2 ticks off me. We were planning on staying the night but my daughter wasn’t feeling well so we packed out around 1930. By the time we left I had pulled 5 more ticks off and found another when I got home. The ticks in itself wasn’t worth the hike but we definitely made some memories and that’s what’s all about.
I did a portion of this trail (6.2 miles) with my upper middle aged mother, which tested her. The scenery and lakes were great, for the area, even with most of the trees leafless. There were mosquitos Memorial Day weekend and I also flicked a tick off my leg, thankfully before it burrowed. The campsites looked fun - will return to camp at some point.
Did a three day trip here April 26th - 29th. This trail is beautiful with variation of small lakes and smooth trails connecting trail loops. This trail would easily be a 4.5 out of 5 star trail if it wasn’t for the TICKS TICKS TICKS. This trail is absolutely crawling with ticks throughout. Even in April, my wife an I found double digit ticks on ourselves and that was with permathin treated clothing. This trail is definitely worth checking out, especially for a day hike; however to camp here multiple days is not very enjoyable, due to the amount of tick checks that are needed.
Some friends and I hiked a smaller (5 mile) loop here on October 20, starting from the west side trailhead. No ticks or bugs (this was after several below-freezing mornings), but the trail was quite overgrown, with a few fallen trees to climb over — definitely wear long pants/sleeves treated with permethrin before hiking this spot during tick season. Otherwise a really pretty trail and not muddy or technically challenging.
I found the Hoist Lakes Trail from the East Trailhead a bit more confusing than from the West Trailhead. The "intersections" didn't seem to match up with my printed map or the one on my phone. Also, mile markers placed along the trail would be helpful. So half a star off for those two things. That said, this is a really nice trail system. I spent about 4 hours here, saw a deer and two hawks, and had a nice lunch by one of the lakes where fish were jumping. No bugs or ticks. It was a great hike and I hope to come back.
Hiked, swam, trail ran a bit, camped. Tons of mosquitoes, flys, and another larger flying biting pest. Cool precession of moths as you move down the trail. Lots of tiny frogs. Goofed it up should be like 14miles and 5 hours moving.