Rollerski the Milford-Kensington Trail
Mon, Sep 21, 2009 - By Mike Muha
The new Milford-Kensington Trail runs from the YMCA on Commerce Road in Milford to the Milford Road entrance of Kensington Park. Newly paved, the trail is approximately 3.6 miles long. The bucolic scenery makes for excellent roller skiing. The trails twists and turns, there are a number of longish but gentle climbs, and one or two slightly steeper sections.
Parking is available in four places:
- At the YMCA and public library in Milford
- On General Motors Road, just west of Milford Road (across from McDonalds). There's an official Trail parking lot.
- At Bakers Restaurant and Bar on Milford Road (across from the Milford Road entrance into Kensington Metropark)
- In any of the parking lots at Kensington Metropark. If you park at Kensington, you will need to ski from whereever you parked to the traffic circle that leads to the Milford Road entrance. Jump on the road (there's a paved shoulder most of the way) and ski the mile out the entrance to the beginning of the Milford-Kensington Trail.
There are no bathrooms along the trail.
Map of the trail.
Let's ski the trail from the YMCA to Kensington Metropark...
The Milford end of the trail. The building at the right is the YMCA. There's a bit of a lip from the road to the trail - your rollerskis will bottom out.
Here's a gentle climb. Notice the wide shoulders. The Milford Mountain Bike Trail crosses the path in several places in the mile between the YMCA and the dam crossing. I've never seen a mountain bike cross the trail during the several times I've skied or biked the paved trail.
We're now at the dam. There's a canoe portage on the Milford side of the dam. The first time I rollerskied this trail, I had to wait at the dam for a canoe to finish crossing the path.
There's a bit of a bump getting onto the dam from the Milford side. Hop it or step over it.
The trail comes up from the right from the dam. The trail ahead leads to Kensington Metropark. Behind me, the trail goes a hundred yards or so to the edge of Milford at the intersection of General Motors drive and Milford Rd. The parking lot is meant for trail users.
There's a McDonalds across the street if you absolutely have to have something to eat. Hmmmm...breakfast ski to Milford? Pancakes and sausage?
The Milford Trail crosses two bridges on a long gentle downhill, following west along General Motors Drive. It then makes a sharp left and crosses GM Drive. This is a very busy road! When it's wet, watch for fine slippery clay mud right at the crossing.
There are five wide, well designed wooden bridges along the path. Two bridges and the dam are between Milford and GM Drive; three more bridges are crossed between GM Drive and Kensington Metropark. There's only a slight light elevation from the pavement up to the bridges; you can roll across. Over time, I worry the pavement might settle, creating a bigger gap between the top of the pavement and the top of the bridge floors.
Besides GM Drive, the Milford Trail crosses several paved entrances. There is one unpaved crossing at Dawson Road (above).
The Milford Trail climbs to an end at Kensington Metropark at the Milford Road entrance. (Team NordicSkiRacers Yvon Dufor and Tim Mulhall head toward the YMCA on their bikes).
At the Kensington entrance are a Dairy Queen and Bakers Bar and Restaurant.
Future
Eventually, Kensington Metropark will provide a connecting trail to the Milford Kensington Trail so you won't have to roller ski on the Metropark Road.
Related links: