Clinton River Trail, Pontiac
Clinton River Trail in Pontiac offers a wheelchair-accessible path that is good for walking, running, and biking. The trail features wide paved surfaces and several sections varying in condition, with some areas freshly improved and others needing completion. While the park nearby is clean and has playsets, the trail is generally quiet and pleasant with a good atmosphere, though some parts may have minor issues like swarms of gnats at sunset. There is parking available but limited around some trail sections.
Reviews
Nice park. Clean and there are many play sets. People throw big parties here, so maybe avoid Saturdays if you’re looking for a quiet day at the park/on the trails. Overall very good atmosphere.
There are 4 nominal sections of the Clinton River Trail in Pontiac. Roughly you have the trail from Old Telegraph to Bagley (1) which is mostly gravel, the unimproved & indistinct sidewalk portion along South Blvd that gets you across Woodward to MLK (2), the improved sidewalk/bike path along South Blvd & Opdyke (3) that gets you to the Auburn Hills CRT and the hidden path through the city (4), behind the Amazon fulfillment center that terminates (or starts, depending on your perspective) at Jaycee Park on Walton Blvd. Someday they will get around to improving and uniting all of the sections. I kind of enjoy the low usage this trail sees. You can travel some sections and never see another person. Generally the trail is in poor condition, but that’s understandable. I have never felt unsafe making the transit through Pontiac on this trail. If you like adventure, find the hidden path. There’s a trestle bridge over the Clinton River just south of M-59 with no railing, just railroad ties that you can look straight through to the ravine below. You won’t find that in Rochester!
Not sure why this spot is on the map as a trail marker! There is no where to park around here. If you do have a way to get to this trail section, it is nice. I like that the path to the West is wide and it’s easy to walk two by two.
The trail from Bagley St. west to Keego Harbor was improved a couple of years ago and is now very nice.
Trail needs to be completed along original rail route. The current path along South Blvd. is incredibly bad, with rough pavement, traffic, missing sidewalks, and tons of broken glass.
The newly announced Pike St. route is really a downtown improvement project which will provide no benefit for trail users at all. It’s a disgraceful blatant bait-and-switch that should be stopped.
I love the trail. It goes through areas I often visit. I can walk, run, or ride a bike. Many of the crossings have pedestrian crossing lights that stop traffic. The surface is nice. The path is wide. The only negative I experienced was encountering swarms of gnats while riding my bike on the path just before sunset.