It had been a few years since I last skied the Cadillac Pathway so when friends had dedicated an afternoon to a cross-country ski outing on the pathway recently, I decided to join them. At least I tried.
They said they would take off about 1 p.m. after having lunch in the area. I decided to join them just for the ski, but I missed the meeting time by a few minutes and never did see them during the outing.
It's a fairly good sized trail system with six different loops offering up to 10 miles of single-track trail. There were several people out skiing with traffic coming and going at the trailhead, which is just off Boon Road east of Cadillac. Yet, despite the coming and going of skiers at the trailhead, once I skied out into the system I saw less than a handful of people on the trail.
The trails meander over the rolling hills that dominate the landscape around Cadillac. Pine and hardwood forests encase the pathway, but it has lost some of the remoteness that you used to feel while skiing the trails.
In my book "Northern Michigan's Best Cross-Country Ski Trails," which was published in 1995, I described the trail system as; "Despite its proximity to Cadillac, the pathway gives you the feeling of skiing mostly in a remote wilderness setting." I wouldn't say that now.
Since I was last there a few years ago more houses have sprung up around the trail system and a paved road now bisects it, which means more traffic noise than before. If you ski the eastern portion of the trail system -- the east side of Seeley Road, which was recently paved -- you can still get somewhat away from the traffic noise.
Despite the encroachment of civilization it's still a nice single-track ski, and it's still one of the few DNR pathways in our region that gets groomed regularly during the ski season by a couple of volunteers; not the DNR.
What is nice about the pathway is the variety of trails and difficulty levels that you encounter. It appeals to all levels of Nordic skiers. The trails on the west side of Seeley Road offer distance and moderately difficult terrain while those on the east side of the road provide a little easier terrain. Much of this section winds through scenic stands of pine and also passes along the Clam River.
The easiest loop is from signpost 1 through 3, over to signpost 6 and return skiing along the river and back to the parking lot. It's a little over two miles and easy skiing the whole way. You can add the section through signposts 4, 5 and 6, which will add close to two more miles of moderate skiing for a total tour of nearly four easy skiing miles; all east of Seeley Road.
My favorite tour, which I did this time out, is a little over five miles. You head out from the trailhead to signpost 4, over to post 8 and return through post 5 down to the Clam River and back to the parking lot. You have to cross Seeley Road a couple of times, but it's a good workout with some good pitch and roll. The hills aren't terribly steep, but they seem like long climbs. It's mostly hardwood forests once you get up into the hilly section of the pathway.
The long section of trail between signposts 5 and 6 -- close to 1.5 miles -- flows along a ridge that has been partially logged in recent years, and it offers some scenic views of distant hills and valleys.
If you want to add more hills and get a really good workout continue on from signpost 8 through posts 9, 10, 12 and return to 8. The hills become bigger and longer and provide a good workout. It adds over more four miles to your outing. Most of the downhill runs are fairly straight forward and not hard to handle if conditions are good. If it's icy, I don't recommend trying it. The pathway through this section is like a bobsled run if the trail is slick and fast.
This is a popular trail system with local skiers. Weekends and after work, the pathway tends to be somewhat busy. Ski it midweek during the day, and you'll probably pretty much have it to yourself. It's not as remote feeling as it once was, but it still offers a nice outing on a classic single-tracked trail.
And, best of all, you don't have skaters blowing by you with unfriendly attitudes. On a single-track trail you are forced to greet and acknowledge other trail users, and it's always an affable greeting; the way cross-country skiing is supposed to be.
To get there you head south on U.S. 131 and get off at the Boon Road exit, turn left -- assuming you were heading south -- and it's less than three miles to the parking lot and trailhead.
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