Brown Bridge is never a bad choice when you are in the mood for some outdoors time. The views from the trails near the Ranch Rudolf parking areas are some of the best in the Traverse City region. If you can’t make it in fall, winter, is not bad either.
Unless it’s just after a fresh snow, you don’t need snowshoes. They don’t hurt, but there is enough traffic to pack down the path so we booted hikers can get along just fine.
The path leading into the narrower, road-less-traveled eastern part of the trail.
The Boardman winds its way through the valley. This area was once flooded by an artificial lake created by the construction of the Brown Bridge Dam in 1921. It provided hydroelectric power until 2006, and the dam itself was removed in 2012.
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