Saturday, June 24 @ 8 AM

Grand River Park to Grand Ravines Park

grandexplorerstrailrace.com

The 1st Annual Grand Explorers’ Trail Race

Run through two beautiful Ottawa County Parks in one race! #2Parks1Race

What can we say? This trail race is Grand: Grand River, Grand Ravines, Grand bridges, and Grand views!

The Ottawa County Parks Foundation and Ottawa County Parks are excited to host this fun, family-friendly run/walk and celebrate the recently completed Idema Explorers Trail that connects Grand River Park to Grand Ravines Park. Come and enjoy nature, community, and some post-race treats. Ottawa County Parks are for everyone.

The course starts at Grand River County Park winding you through a natural surface trail until you hit the newly completed Idema Explorers Trail segment that leads you along the Grand River to Grand Ravines County Park. As you enter Grand Ravines, you will see an old covered bridge and go up a small incline to a spectacular view of the river. If you’re lucky, you might even see the resident bald eagles out fishing.

If you are running (or walking!) the 5K, you will turn around at this point. If you are running the 10K, you will continue to wind yourself through Grand Ravines Park, around the dog park, through the meadow, across the Idema suspension bridge, and back through the woods to Grand River Park. Sounds pretty grand, doesn’t it?

Click HERE to register. 

Why participate?

• Because your participation helps support our parks.
• Your participation will help bring awareness to parks and projects like the Grand River Greenway and the Idema Explorers Trail.
• Because parks are for everyone.
• Because parks, nature, and open spaces are essential for our mental and physical health.

Starting Time
The kids’ 1-mile fun run/walk will start at 8:00 am. The 10K and 5K races will start at 8:30 am.
The kids’ fun run/walk will all be on a paved trail so strollers will be allowed, but strollers will not be allowed on the 10K/5K route due to difficult terrain and narrow trails in some areas of the course.

Course Descriptions
5K – The 5K is a mostly flat course that starts out on dirt and does a loop by the lake in the Grand River Park before heading out to the paved trail by the Grand River. It then follows the Idema Explorers’ Trail by the river until it gets to the lodge at Grand Ravines Park. There is a hill to navigate as you go around the lodge (where there will be an aid station and bathrooms) before heading back to the river trail where you came from. Once you get back to Grand River Park you will navigate a short dirt section of trail before crossing the finish line.

10K – The 10K course will challenge you with some hills and stairs as you wander further into Grand Ravines Park. The start of the course will mirror the 5K course until you reach the Grand Ravines Lodge. At that point, the 10K course will branch out and continue to climb the hill behind the lodge. You will then follow the edge of the woods until you cross the park entrance road and head down towards the dog park. You will follow the edge of the dog park and cross the parking lot for the dog park (where there will be an aid station and bathrooms) before running around to the east of the dog park and heading back into the woods. You will then cross the suspension bridge and descend the East Ravine stairs onto the Statema Woodland Trail. From there you will get back on the Idema Explorers’ trail and head back to Grand River Park. When you get to Grand River Park, your work is far from done as you will have two big climbs and descents to conquer before heading to the finish line.

1-Mile Fun Run/Walk – The kids’ fun run/walk will all be on a paved trail so strollers will be allowed.

Strollers
No running strollers will be allowed due to the narrowness of parts of the trail and the significant portions that are not on the pavement.

Dogs
Dogs will be allowed to run the 10K and 5K races with their human, but they must be on a six-foot leash at all times. We know dogs are a part of the family, we just ask that you be considerate of those around you and that you only bring a dog that is well-mannered and comfortable around people, including children, and other dogs. We want everyone to have a great time!