Shingle Mills Pathway

Shingle Mills Pathway is a meandering riverbank trail that follows the Pigeon River located in Vanderbilt, Michigan. In addition to the Pigeon River, the trail will bring you to two very lovely lakes, Section 4 Lake and Grass Lake. Both locations offer great camping with great panoramic views of the surrounding forest. In order to begin the loop, ideally you will want to park at the trailhead located on the opposite side of the highway from Pigeon Bridge Campground. 

The trail is what I would consider easy to moderate. Although it is mostly flat and clear of debris, some areas can be challenging such as the board walk through the Cypress Swamp and the climb to the Grass Lake Outlook. Just a side note, although the sign says Grass Lake Outlook, due to the heavy foliage you can't see anything other than tree tops so don't waste your energy walking out to the point unless you're looking for a nice bench to sit down and have lunch. I imagine at one point in time there was a nice view of the lake and I would love to see what it looks like but some things are not meant to be.

My favorite stops were by far Section 4 and Grass Lake. Although Section 4 sounds like it belongs in the latest Science Fiction flick, it goes on my list of personal favorites, especially for hot days. This small sinkhole lake is about the size of 2-3 football fields and probably 60-80 feet deep! Stumbling upon this small oasis, you will be absolutely shocked at how crystal clear and blue the water is. The water glows turquoise blue (probably due to the limestone and mineral content) just like the Caribbean. Sandy bottom and no "muck" at the lake bottom make this an ideal place to catch some rays and go swimming. The weather was about 90 degrees when we were at this location so we spent most of the day swimming and lounging around. A few locals told us that there are underground rivers and tagged trees from 50 miles away have been found in this lake, but that has yet to be confirmed. I just know its too deep to see to the bottom.

If you leave Section 4 and head North for about an hour you will come to Grass Lake. This lake is very Scenic with an abundance of wildlife. Tall grass surrounds the shoreline and the rest is abundant with lilly pads. Fish splashing, beavers building, loons calling, and various birds chirping is what one should expect when camped out by this lake. The lake is abundant with panfish and bass so if you brought your fishing pole with you now would be a great oppurtunity to do some fishing. The west side of the lake has several scenic campsites that will provide you with great views.

All in all i think for a nice weekend trip Shingle Mills fills the need for the outdoors.  As far as the bugs go, the Mosquitoes are bothersome so make sure your head nets and spray are packed and although we did not have any problems with Ticks, we have read that they can be quite the nuisance.

One more little tidbit, this trip gave me a good reason to try out my new dehydrator and veggie backpacking cookbook.  Maybe one of the best upgrades yet...