The Ottawa County park groomed for skiing under the lights

Most West Michigan parks shut down in spirit once the snow flies. Pigeon Creek Park wakes up. Out near West Olive, the county grooms more than ten miles of trail for cross-country skiing through old pine plantations and hardwood stands along the Pigeon River, and it keeps grooming them — tracking and resetting the lanes through the day as skiers chew them up. There are tracks set for classic skiing and wider lanes packed for skate skiing, plus a separate snowshoe trail so the two crowds aren’t fighting over the same ruts.

The thing that sets it apart is the lights. About three miles of ski trail and the sledding hill are lit for evening use, so on a January night you can clip in after dark and glide through pines under the glow while your breath hangs in the air. The Pigeon Creek Lodge sits at the trailhead as a warming house, with ski and snowshoe rentals and a concession for hot food — handy if your toes give out before your legs do.

It works as a real park the rest of the year too. The grounds run to 282 acres, with another 130 acres of county open space next door, and the same trails carry hikers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders once the snow melts. About a mile of trail is built to barrier-free standards, and the lodge and restrooms are accessible.

The pine plantations are the giveaway that this land was worked before it was played on — straight rows of trees planted in tidy ranks, now tall enough to bank the wind off a skier’s face. Come back in summer and the same rows throw long shadows across a quiet dirt path beside the creek.