North Country Trail (NCT) Backpacking
North County Trail (NCT) Manistee River
September 8-15 2025
Co-Trip Leaders: Dave Hoffmeyer and Debbie Muse
Type of Trip: Backpacking
Trip Cost/Deposit: $255/$130
Cancellation Date and full payment: June 8, 2025
Wilderness Level: 3 - typical meetup day event in good weather setting with cell coverage
Trip Difficulty: Moderate terrain - 500 ft elevation gain. Up to 12 miles per day
Policy on Fitness Self-Assessment
Level 2: Primarily applies to trips in which we carry only day packs. In one day, we can hike up to 9 miles and 4500 feet of elevation gain on maintained trails, or up to 7 miles and 2000 feet of elevation gain on more rugged, less-maintained trails. For a Level 2 trip you should be comfortable hiking 6-8 miles in a day in hilly or mountainous terrain with a light day pack. If a backpacking trip has a Level 2 rating, it means the distances are 2-4 miles with little elevation gain/loss.
Level 3: Applies to backpacking trips in which we hike with 25-35 pound backpacks. In one day, we can hike up to 7 miles and 3000 feet of elevation gain on maintained trails, or up to 5 miles and 2000 feet of elevation gain on more rugged trails. For a Level 3 trip you should be comfortable hiking 6-8 miles in a day in hilly or mountainous terrain with a 25-pound backpack.
Group Size: 8/7 Maximum/Minimum
Join us for 5 days of hiking on the North Country National Scenic Trail along the scenic Manistee River in the Northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Participants will receive credit for 50 of the 100 Miles for the North Country Trail hike challenge. The hike is 5 days long with daily mileage of between 9 to 12 miles. There are some large hills to climb but much of the trail follows the river.
After renting vehicles we will drive 6 hours from Indianapolis, camping near Fife Lake at a State Forest Campground. On the trail, we will average 10 miles a day, following the river mostly on a high bluff with scenic views. Part of this route is known as the High Banks Rollways. The Hike will end at the North end of the Manistee River Loop trail on Saturday September 13th.
Three nights of camping will be in State Forest Campgrounds, one in a private primitive campground and there will be one night of dispersed camping. Transportation is included with 2 rental vehicles. All meals are the responsibility of the participant, but we will have an ordering option to buy a large quantity of meals.
There will likely be cell phone coverage for much of the hike, but as a precaution your trip leaders will have emergency communication devices.
Temperatures at that time of year should be pleasant with highs in the 60-70’s and overnight lows in the 50’s. Overnight backpacking experience is required with daily mileage of 10 or more.
Questions may be submitted to ciwcinfo@gmail.com.
All trip participants must fill out and submit a CIWC Medical Form and Long Waiver Form.
Effective on all trips, there will be a $50 non refundable registration fee. This fee will be assessed to those who sign up for a trip, get on the roster and then later cancel. Even cancelling before the cancel date. Those who never make the active roster (i.e. those who stay on the waitlist) will NOT be charged the $50 cancellation fee.
