Cross country skiing at Pigeon Creek Park – March 2, 2014
Pigeon Creek Park in West Olive is one of the most popular winter destinations in West Michigan. The park has 10 miles of cross country ski trails that are groomed for both classic and ski skating. In addition to skiing there is a marked snowshoe trail and a sledding hill. The hill and 3 miles of ski trails are lighted until 10 pm at night when the snow conditions are good. The Pigeon Creek Lodge is open to the public in the winter as warming house and also has a food and equipment rental concession. All this makes it great place for families to spend some time outside in the winter.
Heading up the hill from the parking area towards the Pigeon Creek Lodge.
The ski trails start just past the sledding hill. We went to the right just past the sign and followed the wide skating and tracked lane to the west. This is also the trail that is lighted at night and makes for a nice easy 2 miles loop for the kids.
The marked snowshoe trail starts also starts just around the corner from the trail map kiosk above. The marked trail is 1 mile long on the outside loop and there is a cut back option to shorten this to a 0.5 mile hike. There are also plenty of opportunities for off trail snowshoeing. Snowshoes are not allowed on the cross country ski trails.
Click here for a printable PDF version of this map >>
The section of trail along the west boundary of the park called: “Sugar Maple Lane.”
Taking a quick break on the low rider bench.
It was a pretty cold afternoon and by the time we got back to the lodge everyone had a nice red face. We had Reid get out of the sled and run along to warm up a couple times.
I dropped off the sled and went for a quick loop on the trail east of the lodge while everyone else went in to warm up.
The winter trail map. Our route was on the yellow trail from 2, 3, 5, 7,8 to 1. Then I did a quick loop on the yellow and blue trails to the east of the lodge. The majority of the trails here are easy and good for beginners and kids.
Click here for a printable PDF version of this map >>
This is a GoPro time lapse of our skiing. It is always fun to see what happens when the kids take turns wearing the camera.
The sledding hill is right next to the lodge. On our previous visit the kids changed their boots and did some sledding after the cross county skiing loop. Unfortunately we didn’t have time on this visit.
A little better view of the hill. It is not a real big hill, but the kids enjoyed it and it lighted for night sledding.
The Pigeon Cafe inside the Pigeon Creek Lodge.
The Cafe serves hotdogs, chili, snacks and warm and cold drinks. Everything is very reasonably priced.
In the center of the lodge there is a nice fireplace to warm up by.
The equipment rental area in the front of the lodge.
2 hour ski rentals are $8 for adults and $5 for kids. Snowshoes are also available for $6.
The fresh popcorn is our kids favorite and at just $1 per box everyone gets their own.
We only had time for a short visit this time, but you could easily spend a full afternoon here exploring all the trails, sledding and sipping hot chocolate by the fire in the lodge.
More information about Pigeon Creek Park on the Ottawa County Parks website >>
For trail conditions there is a winter sports hotline at: (616) 738-9531
An online status report is also available at: https://www.miottawa.org/
Directions to Pigeon Creek Park >>
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