Pontiac Lake's mountain-bike trail is rated among the country's best

A few miles west of Pontiac, the glacier left exactly the kind of ground that makes a mountain biker grin: short, steep hills, rocks, roots, and tight turns, all piled into a small area. The state strung an 11-mile loop through it at Pontiac Lake State Recreation Area, and the result is regularly ranked among the Top 100 trails in the country — and widely called one of the most technical rides in southeast Michigan. It’s not a beginner’s path. It’s the one people drive across the metro area to test themselves on.

The trail is just one corner of a big park. Pontiac Lake Recreation Area spreads across about 3,700 acres of marsh, pond, old farm field, and woods, most of it inside White Lake Township. The lake itself draws the summer crowd, and the park keeps the longest public beach in southeast Michigan — a little over half a mile of sand — along with boat launches for the anglers.

What makes the place worth knowing is how much it crams together. Alongside the famous bike loop there are bridle trails and a riding stable for horseback riders, hiking paths, a campground, hunting ground in season, an off-leash dog area, and even a field set aside for flying model airplanes. It’s the kind of state park that’s less a single destination than a half-dozen of them sharing one gate.

So you can spend a Saturday here three completely different ways: white-knuckling a nationally ranked singletrack, dozing on the longest beach around, or trotting a horse down a quiet bridle path — all on land a glacier roughed up and the state decided to keep wild.