#TrailTuesday: Exploring Island Lake's Famous Yellow Trail Loop

Dan Cooke
May 30, 2023
9 min read

Updated: Mar 12

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 Lake, then that shouldn't come off as a rash statement. At all.

My love story with Island Lake started during the peak Covid "lockdown" era. If you recall last week's #TrailTuesday special on Pontiac Lake, one of my best friends served as my mountain biking mentor during my first few months breaking into the sport. After we lapped Maybury's awesome MTB track to near memory, my buddy decided that it was time for his padawan to expand his horizon. To my surprise, Maybury was not his go-to trail; that would be found 15 miles northwest in one of the Detroit region's most beloved parks, Island Lake.

I prefer to explore trails before blindly riding them, so the first time that I formally met the Yellow Trail loop, I left the bike at home. The trail was clearly built by mountain bikers, for mountain bikers, so I completed my second traverse on two wheels. Three years later, my preferred arrival at Island Lake includes a trifecta of running, mountain biking, and paddling equipment.

To summarize, Island Lake has burrowed deeply into an immoveable, special place in this recreationist's heart. Some of the best days of my life have been spent paddling its idyllic stretches on the Huron, hammocking with friends at Spring Mill Pond, trekking through "the Badlands," and, of course, lapping its pristine Blue and Yellow Trails.

No, especially the Yellow Trail. And I'm far from being the only outdoor enthusiast to take that stance.

It is our honor to reintroduce Island Lake State Recreation Area now.