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.
April 11, 2021Great 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.
March 22, 2021March 21, 2021March 6, 2021Beautiful and peaceful. Great place to get secluded and relax.
February 5, 2021Section 1 is a mess of downed trees. 2 and 14 are in good condition, just a few minor detours. Parking lot is plowed regularly.
October 10, 2020October 4, 2020Some hills, but not a difficult trail.
October 4, 2020October 3, 2020September 26, 2020Slightly overgrown in some spots but quite dry. Good hills.
September 7, 2020August 30, 2020August 29, 2020August 18, 2020Lots of elevations on this trail. Bring extra water.
June 7, 2020I 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.
May 25, 2020It 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.
May 21, 2020I 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.
May 4, 2020Did 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.
April 27, 2020Many options for shorter or longer hikes! We enjoyed our 4-ish mile hike! Easy, well groomed. Will definitely go back and make it a weekend backpacking trip!
October 22, 2019Some 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.
October 10, 2019I 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.
July 17, 2019It may be a very good trail HOWEVER JULY ITS FULL OF TICKS just a warning to anyone heading here. If I get back this way In The fall I’ll love to come back but right now ticks ticks ticks
June 3, 2019TICKS! We got bombarded with ticks despite 3 different repellents. The trails were numbered fine and laid out well but there were hunters wayyyyyyy too close and omg the ticks. Please check as soon as you reach lot!
October 28, 2018Great trails. Love the rolling hills.
September 5, 2018Short hike in ~1.5miles. Great to backpack with small kids. Fun fishing in the pothole lakes; plenty of legal-ish small mouths and panfish. Lots of rustic sites to setup. I really liked this path.
July 14, 2018Hiked, 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.
