Michigan trails · Pinckney Rec. Area - Potawatomi Trail
Pinckney Rec. Area - Potawatomi Trail
A 12.0-mile network in Michigan, with 132 ft of climbing. Reaches Gosling Lake and other lake destinations.
Elevation profile
The climbing is spread fairly evenly along the route. It gives back about 473 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Gosling Lake (lake)
- Hi-Land Lake (lake)
- Beaver Lake (lake)
Getting there
Pinckney Rec. Area - Potawatomi Trail junction. About 31 min drive (16 mi, 1 of them unpaved) from Howell. 42.44697, -84.00475 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 7:19 a.m., the sun rises at 7:47 a.m. and sets at 6:55 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:24 p.m. (EDT) — 11 h 08 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 12.0-mile route takes roughly 4 h 31 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 12:18 p.m. — 6 h 38 min before sunset.
Loop options
- Pinckney Rec. Area - Potawatomi Trail + Pinckney Rec. Area - Silver Lake Trail + Pinckney Silver Lake Trail — 1.5 mi loop, 216 ft gain
- Pinckney Rec. Area - Potawatomi Trail + Pinckney Potawatomi Trail — 5.5 mi loop, 308 ft gain
- Pinckney Rec. Area - Potawatomi Trail + Pinckney Potawatomi Trail + Pinckney Rec. Area - Waterloo-pinckney Trail;pinckney Rec. Area - Potawatomi Trail — 12.8 mi loop, 1,732 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Brighton Rec. Area - Murray Lake Trail — 10.7 mi