Historic trails. Raging rapids. Fresh-pressed donuts. Join us on an Oakland County odyssey exploring the Paint Creek Trail and Clinton River Water Trail in this first installment of Trailblaze Detroit - a new adventure series from Visit Detroit and Expedition Detroit! " This. This right here. This is what it's all about. " I mumble those words while staring at a rush of whitewater rushing over an unseen ledge in the Clinton River, just south of Downtown Rochester, Michigan

From grassroots activism to establishing conservation benchmarks in the Great Lakes area, we welcome you to explore the recreational...

Join us for a hike as we discover the Richardson Trail at Brighton Recreation Area! This lesser-known route travels through undisturbed...

Welcome back to our #TrailTuesday Series! This edition explores the backcountry of the Detroit region's least known Michigan State Park:...

Welcome back to our weekly #TrailTuesday Series! This edition summits the heights of the Detroit region's resident "high lands" - the...

Welcome back to our #TrailTuesday Series! This edition focuses on a highlight reel of Proud Lake State Recreation Area through an...

Welcome back to our #TrailTuesday Series! Snaking through the western rim of Novi, Michigan, this edition explores the panoramic...

Sixty years of POTO! In honor of the Potawatomi Trail's anniversary, we retraced the bootprints and tire marks of generations of Detroit's greatest outdoor enthusiasts along one of our region's most beloved trails. "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." This quote from tennis player Arthur Ashe is beautiful in its simplicity and applicability. Whether you're building a business, strengthening a relationship, or just conjuring the motivation to get out of

Welcome back to our #TrailTuesday Series! This edition explores one of the Huron-Clinton Metroparks' premiere riverside trails: the...

Welcome back to our #TrailTuesday Series! This edition treks across Brighton Recreation Area's "hiding in plain sight" gem: the Kahchin...

Welcome back to our #TrailTuesday Series! This week finds us winding our way through a wooded retreat in the heart of Livonia, Michigan. Rotary Park Nature Preserve is a well-loved community hub offering a plethora of outdoor activities for any season. Join us as we experience an enchanting escape into the Rotary Park Loop! "You can't judge a book by its cover." This well-known proverb, generally accepted as a universal truth, can easily be coupled with another: " beauty

Welcome back to our #TrailTuesday Series! This edition explores the glistening lakes, vast marshes, and wooded ridge lines of Bald Mountain State Recreation Area's Blue, White, and Orange Loops . Join us as we conquer one of the Detroit region's "Black Diamond" trails on our first visit to Bald Mountain in Oakland Charter Township, Michigan! Some days it's easy to be an " Outdoorist ." The cloudless weather sits at an idyllic 60-something degrees. The trail is dry, clear, an

Welcome back to our #TrailTuesday Series! Nestled in the heart of Troy, Michigan, this edition explores the pines, meadows, and marshes...

Welcome back to our #TrailTuesday Series! This edition explores the towering pines, vast meadows, and glistening snow-covered vistas of Island Lake State Recreation Area's Hickory Ridge Trail ! Join us as we capitalize on the Detroit region's first snowfall by exploring Island Lake's most accessible - and possibly most beautiful - trail. Let's start with a polarizing confession: I am a "Thanksgiving believer." That means that I absolutely refuse to engage with the connotati

Welcome back to our #TrailTuesday Series! This edition features a picturesque jaunt through the winding trails of Kensington Metropark in Milford, Michigan . Join us as Katie shares her first foray as a "Trail Tuesday contributor" while exploring Kensington's enchanting Fox, Chicadee, and Wildwing Trail Loops! Exploration . The word itself conjures a sense of excitement, intrigue, and for some, maybe slight anxiety. New places and new experiences., ranging from adventure

Welcome back to our #TrailTuesday Series! This edition loops around the wild trails nestled into the easternmost wilderness of Detroit's most beautiful island - Belle Isle Park . Join us as we rediscover Belle Isle's stunning Lighthouse and Blue Heron Lagoon trail ! Trails inspire us. They encourage ingenuity, community, and continuity of connection. They challenge us to push our limits, reward us with stunning vistas, and congratulate us with post-hike brews . Trails provid

The wait is over - Detroit's peak fall colors have FINALLY ARRIVED throughout the region, and there's no better trail to experience this season's beauty than along Pinckney Recreation Area's Crooked Lake Trail . As rapper E-40 so eloquently stated, "Everybody got choices." For Detroit's outdoor community, that simple sentence couldn't be more true for the month of October . Scratch that, the last two weeks of October. When our trails are brilliantly decorated in reds, yell

Welcome back to our #TrailTuesday Series! This edition explores one of the Detroit region's most beloved MTB routes and trail running destinations: Maybury State Park's Mountain Bike Trail. Join us as we rediscover this primetime biking, running, and hiking trail! "Yeah. I'm the stupidest person on the trail." I remember saying those words audibly to myself during the summer of 2008 on a blisteringly hot day. Despite living in Northville for a year, I had finally completed

Along the banks of the Huron River and through the towering pines of Proud Lake, we retraced the generational footsteps of one of the Detroit region's oldest backpacking routes: the Chief Pontiac Trail . Join us on this concluding Part 2 of this series that follows this classic Michigan hiking trail from Proud Lake to Kensington Metropark! Pro tip: try to get more than 3 hours of recovery sleep in the middle of a ~20 mile thru-hike. The key word there is " try ." Two of our m

From the heights of Mt. Omich to the lowlands of the Huron River, we retraced the generational footsteps of one of the Detroit region's oldest backpacking routes: the Chief Pontiac Trail . Join us on Part 1 of this series as we traverse this classic Michigan hiking trail from Highland to Proud Lake! " There's no way that it was like this in the 1950s. " I say those words audibly to myself as yet another set of headlights blind me along Wixom Trail. It's just past 10 p.m., and

Welcome back to our #TrailTuesday Series! This edition explores the lakeside vistas and dramatic forested ravines of the Seven Lakes...

Welcome back to our weekly #TrailTuesday Series! This edition explores two of the most controversial, diverse, beautiful, and fun trails...

Welcome back to our weekly #TrailTuesday Series! This edition explores one of the most accessible, beautiful, and popular trails in the Detroit region: Island Lake's Yellow Trail Loop. Join us as we rediscover this cherished biking, hiking, and running destination! Let's get right to it: if you could only visit one Detroit region park in your entire life, then Island Lake State Recreation Area should be said park. If you have ever had the pleasure of recreating at Island

Welcome back to our weekly #TrailTuesday Series! This edition explores a trail widely recognized as one of the Top 100 Trails in the entire country: Pontiac Lake's Mountain Bike Trail. Join us as we scale the climbs and ride the bends of this classic biking and hiking trail! "Yeah, I've been riding for a while now. Pontiac Lake was what really got me into it." Flashback to April of 2020, and my buddy has formally inducted me into the Detroit region's mountain biking faithfu

Welcome back to our weekly #TrailTuesday Series! This edition explores a trail hiked by investors, industrialists, royalty, and common outdoor enthusiasts alike: Highland Recreation Area's Haven Hill Loop. Join us as we rediscover this timeless trail! Two roads diverged in a green wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that led me to the ruins of the Ford family's wilderness homestead, and that has made all the difference. Robert Frost just turned in his grave at

In honor of Earth Week, we embraced the challenge of thru-hiking the Detroit's region's most rigorous backpacking route: the Waterloo-Pinckney Trail . This third and final installation of our Waterloo-Pinckney Trail series covers the entirety of the Pinckney section of the trail - 14 miles of challenges, triumphs, pain, and euphoria. "Hey Pops - it's gonna be another hour or so...sorry. Today's been a wild card." Those were probably the last words that my jet-lagged father wa

In honor of Earth Week, we embraced the challenge of thru-hiking the Detroit's region's most rigorous backpacking route: the Waterloo-Pinckney Trail . This second installment of our series on the Waterloo-Pinckney Trail traverses the most strenuous terrain of the entire journey - as well as discovering welcomed surprises to ease the "Survival Day." Rainstorms while camping: possibly the greatest paradox in the backpacking experience. On one hand, you'll never find a better "w

In honor of Earth Week, we embraced the challenge of thru-hiking the Detroit's region's most rigorous backpacking route: the Waterloo-Pinckney Trail . This first installment of our 3 part series on the Waterloo-Pinckney Trail highlights the trail's initial physical and psychological impressions - especially on solo hikers. Every journey has its beginning, and this 38-mile one started in a basement. Next to a gas-lit fireplace. My parents' basement fireplace to be exact, duri

Welcome back to our #TrailTuesday Series! This edition treks across one of the Detroit region's most beloved trails - if not THE most beloved trail - Brighton Recreation Area's Penosha Trail . Join us as we rediscover this iconic trail. "Pace yourself, Lucy - the climb is coming." My trail pup pauses for a second to look at me, confused why I'm slowing down our pace as we're hiking through a rolling, mature oak forest. We are roughly two miles in at this point, and she's clea

Welcome back to our #TrailTuesday Series! This edition journeys to the Detroit region's northernmost destination - Holly Recreation Area...

Welcome back to our weekly #TrailTuesday Series! This edition tackles the only "Black Diamond" rated trail within our series: the rugged...

Welcome back to our weekly #TrailTuesday Series! This edition digs into the sole "Top 50" trail within our namesake city - the Dequindre...

Welcome back to our weekly #TrailTuesday Series! This edition digs into one of the most popular trails in the entire Detroit region - a well deserved designation - within the heart of Maybury State Park. Join us as we traverse the rolling hills and expansive wetlands of Maybury! Have you ever experienced the joy - and frustration - of recognizing that something beautiful was hiding in plain sight? Maybe you finally realized that an old friend from your school years also const

Welcome back to our weekly #TrailTuesday Series! This edition explores the Detroit region's sole "Top 50" trail that's south of the...

Welcome back to our weekly #TrailTuesday Series! This edition explores the highland loops of the West Bloomfield Woods Nature Preserve, a forested oasis amidst the abundant lakes of West Bloomfield Township, Michigan. "Hey Dan, have you ever explored the West Bloomfield Nature Preserve?" This question from my uncle at first seemed to spring out of left field, but I've come to accept that wearing any Expedition Detroit merch now constitutes a public invitation for any and a

Welcome back to our weekly #TrailTuesday Series! This edition traverses the lakeside bluffs, forested ravines, and panoramic views of the...

Welcome back to our weekly #TrailTuesday Series! This edition criss-crosses the Huron River on Proud Lake State Recreation Area's Marsh,...

Welcome to the first installation of our weekly #TrailTuesday Series! Located just south of Walled Lake, this inaugural installation...