Whether you're into hiking, biking, horseback riding, snowmobiling, off-roading or paddling, Michigan Trails Week, Sept. 19-26, is the right time to explore your options.

Michigan – with more than 13,000 miles of state-designated trails – makes it easy to find nearby or destination trails just right for you. 

Though Trails Week is an effort to elevate Michigan’s reputation as the Trails State for eight full days, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources hopes people get outdoors and explore all year long.

"Trails Week encourages everyone to enjoy and discover Michigan’s extraordinary trails system that provides safe, outdoor space for recreation, exercise and fun," said Dakota Hewlett, nonmotorized trails grant coordinator for the DNR Parks and Recreation Division. "To give Michiganders one more reason to explore trails during this tribute week, we’re holding Michigan Trails Week Challenge for the second year in a row."

"State parks and trails are welcoming places with ample opportunity to improve your physical and mental health," said Ron Olson, chief of the DNR Parks and Recreation Division. "Getting outside on a trail is an easy way to promote good health and take in the outdoors, and that's the concept behind these resources that are part of 'Michigan's big green gym.'"

Newcomers and veteran trail users are invited to team up and take part in the free 2021 Michigan Trails Week Challenge. No matter how you like to travel the trails, everyone’s invited to contribute their miles toward a statewide, collective goal of 100,000 miles.

Simply register online and log your miles spent on any local, county, state or federally managed trail to earn virtual badges and be entered in a drawing for cool outdoor gear and Michigan-branded prizes. Earn a virtual badge when you register for the challenge and log at least 1 mile, and then every time you:

• Bike 10 miles.
• Horseback ride 5 miles.
• Paddle 2 miles.
• Ride (ORV, ATV or motorcycle) 15 miles.
• Walk, run or hike 5 miles.

Visit Michigan.gov/TrailsWeek to register for the challenge and see additional trail resources, including links to trail maps, statistics, safety and etiquette information, an interactive map, and photos (plus hundreds of participant snapshots from the 2020 Trails Week Challenge).