Maybury State Park: Linking and Pond Trails (Blog Hike #651)

Trails: Linking and Pond Trails

Hike Location: Maybury State Park

Geographic Location: west of Northville, MI (42.43147, -83.53518)

Length: 3.1 miles

Difficulty: 3/10 (Easy/Moderate)

Date Hiked: August 2017

Overview: A rolling double loop through an old sanitorium featuring a pond with good waterfowl viewing.

Park Information: http://www.michigandnr.com/parksandtrails/Details.aspx?id=469&type=SPRK

Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=733354
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: On the west side of Detroit, take I-96 to Beck Road (exit 160).  Exit and go south on Beck Rd.  Drive Beck Rd. south 4 miles to Eight Mile Road and turn right on Eight Mile Rd.  Alternatively, you can take I-275 to Eight Mile Rd. (exit 167) and go west on Eight Mile Rd. to reach this intersection.  The signed park entrance is on the left 1 mile west of the intersection between Beck Rd. and Eight Mile Rd.  Turn left to enter the park, pay the park entrance fee, then turn left at the first intersection.  Park in the large parking lot beside the baseball field; the hike starts at the southeast corner of this parking lot.

The hike: The mature maple/beech forest found at Maybury State Park is normally only found in parks that are much older, but there is a reason you also find it here.  This land’s preserved status dates back to 1921 and the founding of the Detroit Municipal Tuberculosis Sanatorium, which was owned by the City of Detroit.  The sanatorium was created by combining 8 adjoining farms, and its name was later changed to the Maybury Sanatorium to honor William H. Maybury, a farm owner who was instrumental in the sanitorium’s establishment.  More than 40 buildings once stood on this site, and it acted as a quarantined city for Detroit residents with tuberculosis.

            In 1969, the sanatorium closed because medical advances rendered it obsolete.  The Michigan Department of Natural Resources purchased the 944 acres from the City of Detroit in 1972, and the state park opened in 1975.  The park is solely a day-use park, and its main amenity is the Maybury Farm.  Operated by the Northville Community Foundation, Maybury Farm is a working farm that provides visitors an educational hands-on farm experience.  The farm is located just west of the park’s main entrance (the one you drove in) if you want to tour the farm on your way out.

            In addition to the farm, the park offers a baseball field, some picnic areas, and miles of trails for every conceivable non-motorized user.  Many routes through the park’s extensive trail system are possible, but this hike focuses on the hiker-only trails.  The route suggested here provides a semi-loop through the oldest forest and around a small scenic pond, thus visiting the most scenic natural destinations the park has to offer.  Be warned that this park is quite popular: I came here on a Wednesday morning and had plenty of company on the trail, although I did not meet Barney Fife or Andy Griffith.

Portal entering Maybury Sanitorium

            Start at the parking lot’s southeast corner where a black iron portal welcomes you to the Maybury Sanatorium.  Some large purple interpretive signs here relate the sanatorium’s history.  What remains of the sanatorium’s developed area lies behind and to the right of here.  While that area is not explored on this hike, you could easily wander over there after you finish this hike if you want to tour the sanatorium’s old grounds.

Major trail intersection

            The asphalt trail quickly brings you to a major trail intersection marked as green circle #3.  Trail intersections at Maybury State Park are marked using a complicated system: you have to pay attention to the number/letter, color, and shape of the marker.  The key thing to remember for this hike is that the hiker-only trails are always marked with green intersection markers and/or green carsonite posts.  If you really want to know the full system, red marks horse trails, blue the paved bike trails, yellow the dirt mountain bike trails, and orange the gravel multi-use trails.  Trail maps are also posted at each intersection, and when you notice all of the trails crammed into this park’s fairly small area, you start to realize why such a complicated system is necessary.  Turn sharply left to head for green circle #10 and then right to head for green circle #5.

The wide dirt trail heads east along the boundary between mature beech/maple forest on the right and prairie on the left.  The mature forest makes this hike one of the nicest in suburban Detroit.  A large number of interpretive signs explain this area’s geology, flora, and fauna, and they serve to give this trail a nature trail feel.  One sign tells you that this park is located atop a moraine, or a long ridge of dirt and rock deposited by melting glaciers at the end of the last ice age.  In fact, the highest point in Wayne County is located just southeast of here within the park boundaries.

Trail intersection green circle #5

The trail curves right to pass around a wetland area before reaching trail intersection green circle #5.  The trail going right leads directly back to the trailhead, and we will use it when we get back to this intersection in an hour or so.  For now, turn left to head for the pond.  Very quickly you cross a horse trail; remember to look for the green carsonite posts to stay on the hiker-only trail.  Some signs call this trail the Linking Trail because it links the park’s pond and sanatorium areas.

For the next 0.5 miles the hiking trail and horse trail parallel each other on an eastward course.  At 0.75 miles, you drop down the only steep area of the hike, but the hill is only 20 feet high.  A dense understory that includes stinging nettle and poison ivy lines the trail.  Fortunately, the wide path makes these irritating plants easily avoidable.

Hiking through mature forest

Just past 1.1 miles, you reach intersection green circle #6, which forms the loop around the pond.  For no particular reason, I turned right to hike counterclockwise around the pond.  Some wooden fishing piers jut out over the water, which is amazingly clear for a suburban area.  Plumes of green algae can be seen growing in the pond’s depths, and I saw many fish swimming around waiting for an angler to toss in the right lure.  The pond is also a major draw for waterfowl.  I saw Canada geese, many types of ducks, an egret, and a swan in this area.

Maybury State Park pond

Stay near the pond and ignore trails that exit right; they lead to picnic shelters and the mountain bike trails.  Some inlets and islands make the pond seem smaller than it is.  At 1.4 miles, the dirt hiking trail ends at an intersection with the wide two-track gravel multi-use trail.  Angle left to continue your circumnavigation of the pond.

The multi-use trail crosses the dam that forms the pond before reaching trail intersection orange diamond #20.  Turn left to return to single-track dirt hiker-only trail and head up the north side of the pond.  Tracing around a few small inlets closes your loop around the pond.  Turn right at intersection green circle #6 to retrace your steps westward to intersection green circle #5, then continue straight at intersection green circle #5.

Wetland area

At 2.6 miles, you reach intersection green circle #4, where you need to angle right to pass along the south side of the same wetland you walked north of before.  More easy, level walking brings you back to intersection green circle #3, where a right turn on the asphalt trail returns you to the parking lot to complete the hike. If you also wish to explore the sanatorium’s former developed area, continue straight at intersection green circle #3 to hike a short 1 mile loop partially on paved trail through that area.