South Long Lake Trail is a 1.7 mile moderately trafficked loop trail located near Traverse City, Michigan that features beautiful wild flowers and is good for all skill levels. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail.
February 20, 2021A short escape from the kids. Perfect for a late night snowshoe trip. Right down the road from our house.
February 5, 2021January 23, 2021January 11, 2021January 2, 2021November 24, 2020Well maintained and it just snowed so it was beautiful!
November 14, 2020Nice, wide trail. Lots of exposed roots.
October 14, 2020Beautiful, easy for kids and dogs. Very well marked.
October 8, 2020Nice trail, my dog loved it.
October 1, 2020September 8, 2020Very Family Friendly!!
September 2, 2020Nice quiet trail through woods. Trail is well marked, maintained and wide. Need to watch out for tree roots which can be a tripping hazard. Saw no one on this trip except one gray squirrel.
July 23, 2020It was a great ride! There is more trial than I initially thought. Clean, open trails are maintained well except for the washouts from the recent rain. Beautiful and quiet. Definitely recommend
July 22, 2020I live across the street from South Long Lake Forest Area and I NEVER tire of this trail. The scenery is diverse and there is lots of wildlife, in and around the swamp areas. My 2 ½ year old has hiked the entire loop without being carried or put in the stroller. I love going later in the evening when the trail is desolate and letting my chihuahua off her leash. During peak summer months I recommend lots of bug spray and walking the trail at a brisk pace.
June 26, 2020Nice short trail. Very pretty. Was a still day and lots of standing water so it was buggy. The trail is well marked but there are additional paths not on AllTrails. Trails are wide and well maintained.
June 26, 2020Trail itself was ok. Nothing breath taking. However I was also distracted because the bugs were so bad. First time on trail but I would guess it is prone to flooding. So if it has rained in the last week I wouldn’t recommend this trial (Trail?*)
June 2, 2020Mosquitoes have over taken this trail (but what do you expect near water and early June). Shaded, well groomed, pretty flat trail. Easy to follow the numbers, hard to get lost. Will be going back for trail running it. Lots of toads (babies too!)
June 1, 2020We go on this trail several times per week until mosquito season hits. Extremely dog friendly. Beware of exposed roots on trail. Fairly easy hike with a moderate amount of hills. The wetlands are loud and alive with the sounds of nature.
May 3, 2020A nice trail to hike when you have limited time. The peaceful area is a nice hike to clear your mind and just take in nature’s beauty.
April 26, 2020Nice trail on a Spring day! Lots of roots to be aware of and a few small hills but a beautiful forest. Well marked trails.
April 25, 2020My 9yr old niece liked the trail. It was well posted and easy to follow. I did not use the map from the app.
April 20, 2020Nice trail through the woods. All Trails has not mapped it out very well though, follow the signs posted, not the app.
April 20, 2020Nice trail in the woods! However, not much variation in scenery and the AllTrails map doesn’t totally match the actual trail so we missed our turn and connected to the wrong trail. The trail is well marked though so if you pay careful attention to the actual trail map instead of AllTrails you should be fine. Overall, a nice trail for a quick hike.
April 7, 2020This was a decent trail, it has a few hills and some curves which is nice. It isn’t a super long long loop and was definitely doable for my 3 year old. The only hard part was the leaves covering the trail making it sort of slippery and covering the many roots. I think it mighty be prettier once the leaves are on all the trees.
April 6, 2020Very basic, short, easy, kid and pet friendly.
April 5, 2020Pretty, love the water and wildlife sounds, but trail is not maintained. You can’t take 3 steps without stepping on a root. I would not rate this as “easy.” With the roots, overgrown trail, and hills, I think this is for more experienced hikers. We did go in the beginning of April, so maybe it’s better in later spring/summer when there aren’t as many leaves down (although the leaf colors were very pretty). Not kid-friendly.
March 23, 2020March 9, 2020With the warm weather there’s ice then spots of hard pack snow with soft mixed in, so in certain segments you’re slipping than sinking 5” into melt, makes walking difficult, best to wait for more cold or more warm to make it better
