Abandoned Railroad Bridge Across the Manistee River: Mesick, Mi

Bugs, mosquitoes, muck, and extreme overgrowth seems to hide the trail where the Manistee Northeastern Railroad used to come through.

Trudging through the swamp, however, you’ll find an extraordinary beaver dam; not just a hut, but a dam that spans the creek.

Just a couple of miles west of Mesick in Wexford County, the former Manistee Northeastern Railroad meets up with the former Ann Arbor RR. This trail is pretty easy to follow, even by vehicle. If you do drive down this trail, you may want to back the entire way in; there’s no place to successfully turn around without going into a ditch and getting stuck.

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Once at the old abandoned Ann Arbor Railroad bridge, you’ll notice how cool it is. The rail ties are rotted and some missing; the sad part is, someone actually tried to burn it down. The ties are charred and some of the metal was warped by the heat. Probably caused by an arsonist who flunked history in high school.

You’ll find the bridge about 1/3 mile east of N9 Rd across the Manistee River.

Don’t just blow off our old railroad bridges; they are remnants of Michigan’s past that we should pay more attention to and appreciate.