Mountain bike camp ‘dirt school’ coming to Ingham park

Spring has sprung and for Ingham County parks and the busy season has begun.

Put away those cross-country skis and snow tubes, and grab those kayaks and picnic baskets because warm weather is just around the corner.

Preparations are underway at William M. Burchfield Park in Holt, Michigan.

“We just have a lot of outdoor activities. If you like hiking, fishing, biking, disc golf, paddling, swimming, we got it,” said Tim Buckley, Burchfield Park manager. 

The biggest addition to the park this year will be a mountain biking school. 

Lauren Hicks, a seasonal maintenance worker at Burchfield Park, said, “They’re working on putting in something called dirt school, which is a mountain biking day camp for kids who want to learn.” 

Buckley said, “It’s going to have really cool features like tunnels, giant cones, hoops, and different terrains to get them used to the rough ride of mountain biking.”

On top of this addition coming in early June, one of Burchfield’s biggest attractions is the 20 plus miles of trails for hiking and mountain biking.

A park goer and active mountain biker, Ryan Moberly said, “Burchfield is amazing … with the massive amount of trails and the difficulty of levels they have here it’s awesome, I can’t wait to get back out there.”

“We’ve got 10 miles of advanced mountain bike trails, this is a very popular mountain biking trail system,” said Buckley.

If you’re not an avid mountain biker don’t worry, there’s still plenty of activities like disc golf, kayaking, fishing, swimming and places to explore.

“We have 540 acres… three miles of riverfront so you can hike along the Grand River, which is very unique,” said Buckley.

Burchfield Park is located at 881 Grovenburg Road, Holt, Mich. A daily pass costs $3 for Ingham County residents and $5 for non-Ingham residents.

“Sometimes you just need space to catch your breath, and there’s some really nice places along the river where you can just sit and breathe for a minute,” said Hicks.

“With development happening all around and us preserving this not only now, but for future generations, this is really becoming a gem in this area,” said Buckley