Beginner Off-Road Trails Near St. Helen, Michigan

St Helen Trail is a 3ish-wide vehicle sandy trail that will take you through new growth forest and older forest. This trail will take you to the St. Helen area or the West Branch area…
Learn more about St. Helen Trail

This is a single-lane two-track trail made up of compact sand and dirt, often featuring whoops similar to other popular trails in the area. The south end of the trail winds through a patch of…
Learn more about Jack's Trail

This trail is a point-to-point section of DNR Trail 6, which is part of extensive off-road vehicle trails that branch out from the ORV-friendly community of St. Helen, Michigan. This short but popular section of…
Learn more about Sacred Chimney Trail

This Michigan DNR ORV Route is open to full-size, 50-inch, and motorcycles with ORV permits and trail permit stickers. This area connects with St. Helen ORV Route on the west side. The west side of…
Learn more about Ogemaw Hills ORV Route

Beaver Lake Trail is a 3 or so vehicle-wide sandy trail that will take you through new growth forest, older forest, and recently clear-cut areas. This trail will take you to the St. Helen area…
Learn more about Beaver Lake Trail

Michigan DNR ORV Route is open to full-size vehicles, 50 inch, and 24 inch with ORV and trail permits. The route is mostly soft sand. This section of the route is a connector between St.…
Learn more about St. Helen ORV Route - West

This trail runs east and west. The west side of this trail is wide and represents a dirt road. This area is a mixed-traffic trail, so expect to see side-by-sides, quads, motorcycles, and snowmobiles in…
Learn more about Pine Drive

This loop is a great way to enjoy the beautiful trails of Michigan in any AWD vehicle, and it's not too far from Houghton Lake. The terrain is hard-packed sand and doesn't have any low-lying…
Learn more about Geels North Loop

Geels South Loop is a fast paced 50" trail, roughly 25 miles long. It contains mostly shallow sand with some soft dirt, in the wooded sections. The trail is well maintained with intersections clearly marked.…
Learn more about Geels South Loop

This loop can be found off of Old Michigan Highway 76 and consists of Geels Trail on the north and Geels Road on the south. The north trail has large whoops on it and will…
Learn more about Geels Loop

This trail runs from the edge of the town, Roscommon, where you can find many small shops and fuel. This trail is also part of the snowmobile trail system and is closed to other traffic…
Learn more about Roscommon Route

Aginaw Loop to Knoch is part of multiple trail systems in the area of the checkerboard. This trail is made up of pines and hardwood and starts as double-lane dirt and then drops to single-lane…
Learn more about Aginaw Loop

Hilly adventure awaits on this unmapped trail in the Roscommon Forest. This trail is South off of Sandy Trail, and is just West of the St. Helen's South ORV Route. There is a loop off…
Learn more about Hilly Trail

This trail runs between Stoney Ridge and Meridian Road east and west. It is sandy with some loose spots and shallow mud holes. The trail width ranges between 2 and 4 cars wide. Along this…
Learn more about Turney Ranch Trail

This route is mostly 1.5 vehicles wide the whole way. This will take you through mostly wooded areas with ample opportunity to see various creatures roaming the woods. This route intersects various other trails and…
Learn more about Odessa Road

This trail runs north and south and travels through the state forest and national forest. The trail starts as loose sand and one vehicle width, increasing to over two vehicle widthsof hardpack in the national…
Learn more about Kinsey Hunt - FS4474/FS4154

This trail runs east and west between Inman and Meridian Roads. Towards the east, this trail looks more like a dirt road and is roughly 4 cars wide. The sand here is hard-packed and there…
Learn more about McGregor

This trail maintains 2-4 car widths the entire way. The trail only has a few small elevation changes. For the most part, the ground is hard-packed sand and has some smaller shallow mud holes. You'll…
Learn more about Oyster Road/4476

The west side of this trail starts tight and windy with some small elevation changes. This section of trails has some deeper mud holes. Roughly 1 mile into the trail if you are heading west,…
Learn more about Gilford Ranch Trail

This trail runs south and north with the north side of this trail being 4 vehicles wide. This north section is mixed traffic, allowing SxS, motorcycles, quads, and full-sized vehicles. From December through March, only…
Learn more about South Meridian

The south end of the road is 3 cars wide, as you travel further north the road narrows down to 1.5 cars wide. Most of the road is sandy with occasional small mud holes. At…
Learn more about Perry Holt Rod

Dow Road is a 2-ish vehicle-wide hard-packed road that will take you through older forest. This trail will take you to the West Branch area or the Clear Lake area for food and fuel. Plenty…
Learn more about Dow Road

This trail divides several counties along with the national forest and state forest. This trail is mostly 1 vehicle wide, with a few sections of 1.5-vehicle width. The trail is mostly sand with a few…
Learn more about County Line

This trail runs north and south between the West Branch Big Creek and Ambrose Lake area with a nice open view from a recent tree harvest. The north end of this trail is 4 vehicles…
Learn more about Tower Trail

Part of the route on the east side is shared with the ATV trails in the area. As you head towards the west, the trail does open up and goes from 1.5 vehicles wide to…
Learn more about East Oyster Road

This route runs through mature woods and recent clear-cut areas. The route runs from the Ambrose Lake area to the south along the YMCA camp. The route has everything from hard pack to mud holes…
Learn more about Piper Lake Rd

This loop covers a very nice area, incorporating a couple of State Forest roads and ORV routes. It's a state gaming area, so keep that in mind while traveling through. You'll find a spot for…
Learn more about Backus Creek SGA Loop

This trail runs east to west, at the west end of the trail is Ambrose Lake State Campground, along with the Ambrose Lake ORV trailhead. The east end of the trail runs dead-end into another…
Learn more about Hougton Creek Trail

This 50" trail is a loop leaving from Ambrose Lake trailhead. You will find hard-packed and soft sand with some decent elevation changes, mature trees, and recent clear-cut areas. While running this trail you will…
Learn more about Ambrose Lake Trail West Loop

This is a scenic ORV route near the St. Helen Motorsport Area. The trail features sandy terrain with occasional deep ruts (from ATVs and razors) but nothing a Jeep couldn't manage. When going around the…
Learn more about Denton Creek Trail