Tour des Trees Routes and Stops

ROUTES AND STOPS

It's time to download the route and make your plans!

Only a handful of days before Tour time! I know you are all itching to get to Michigan in just a few days and some of you have already said you are packed and ready to go.

But you are not fully ready yet!

See below for Paul Wood's details for viewing and downloading this year's day-by-day routes. Need help with that? Paul Wood and Laurie Skul will be on-hand in the Bike Room at 4:15 on Sunday to answer your questions about downloading the routes.

Of course, don't forget to look at the latest itinerary for the week on the Resources page.

A few other things to plan:

Sunday's arrival and events

Check-in times are from 11am to 4pm on Sunday, August 10. The Bike Room and room for check-in are right next to each other. Look for signage after getting to the hotel. (Don't forget to plan your parking for when you arrive.)

For those looking to get in a shakeout ride on Sunday, we recommend going over to the beautiful Meijer Gardens where we'll have a tree planting ceremony at 2pm followed by an "Ask an Arborist" session with Bartlett Tree Experts.

Rider Orientation will be at the hotel at 5pm with cocktail time and dinner at 6pm.

Offsite Events

If anyone would like to attend any of our scheduled events and get to those early- Pricklethorn Rallies, educational events, etc.- we will have instructions on how we can get you to those each evening/ morning.

On Tuesday, if you would like to attend the tours and informational events at the SEEDS campus, we will have a sign-up sheet and you will be transported to the campus from lunch once we have full vehicles ready to go. You will then be driven to the hotel afterward.

On Wednesday, if you are interested in spending an hour at Sleeping Bear Dunes, we will have a sign-up sheet in the Bike Room on Tuesday night/ Wednesday morning. Instead of departing with the group on Wednesday morning, you will be driven by volunteers over to Sleeping Bear Dunes and will be able to spend an hour or so there. At that point, you'll be driven to the aid station in Empire (the stop before lunch) where you'll be able to unrack your bikes and finish the day's route. While we have some National Park passes- and we encourage you to bring yours, if you have one- we may not have the ability to get everyone in, so be prepared to pay the entrance fee ($25).

On Friday, we have an opportunity to interact with students at Muskegon Community College for their "Urban Forestry in Action" event, a day where students and local will learn about the industry and how tree research is conducted. If you would like to attend, we will have a vehicle that will depart from our tree planting that morning. Be prepared to talk about what it is you do! Riders will be transported to the lunch stop afterward.

Favorite Jersey Day

We have dubbed Day 4 (Thursday) as Favorite Jersey Day! We are encouraging everyone to wear their favorite vintage Tour des Trees, local bike club, business, or event jersey this day to add a little more color to the day's ride.

As always, as we get closer, feel free to reach out with any questions.

Jonathan Cain

TREE Fund

Route Maps from our Tour Director, Paul Wood:

The routes for the 2025 Tour des Trees have been finalized! The final totals are 424.2 miles (469.4 for those doing the Morbark Challenge on Day 1) over five days of riding. There is also the opportunity to stretch your legs and visit the Frederick Meijer Gardens on the Sunday which would add another 15.6 miles.

The route is filled with lots of scenic stretches and the natural beauty that makes the state of Michigan a desirable place for cyclists. We have done everything we can to create a safe and enjoyable experience and feel confident that the 2025 Tour des Trees will be a wonderful backdrop to engage with your fellow tree care enthusiasts and share your passion for the mission of TREE Fund!

Here is the RidewithGPS event link -https://ridewithgps.com/auto_approve/Event/363113/f04u7y9guk5Ab70IbC4JLTBELGpBAi3h

This link will give you access to the full features of RidewithGPS during the event without having to pay for an account.

I would suggest opening the event link on your mobile phone. When you first open the link, you will be confirmed (RSVP’d) to the event. If you haven’t already done so, you will be prompted to download the app and create an account with RidewithGPS. You can skip creating a paid account if you are only going to use RidewithGPS for this event.

Once you've RSVP’d to the event and navigate to your “events” tab within the RidewithGPS app, you’ll see the 2025 Tour des Trees event page where all of this year's routes will be located. From there you can begin the process of sending those routes individually to your respective headunits.

If you need assistance loading the routes from the app to your headunit, you can find help at:

On Sunday, August 10, we’ll hold a brief breakout session at 4:15, to review the procedures outlined above and assist anyone who needs a bit of guidance in navigating the whole RidewithGPS/headunit process.

Ride Safely & Have Fun!

Paul Wood

Tour Director

Black Bear Adventures Bicycle Tours

pwoodbba@gmail.com