Clinton River Trail
Our Take
Auburn Hills sits in the middle of one of metro Detroit’s best rail-trails, and it’s worth knowing about. The Clinton River Trail runs 16 miles along an old 1880s rail line, stitching together Sylvan Lake, Pontiac, Auburn Hills, Rochester Hills, and Rochester, and it plugs into a whole regional web — the West Bloomfield Trail to the west, the Paint Creek and Macomb Orchard trails to the east, and the cross-state Iron Belle Trail. In other words, you can start in Auburn Hills and, with enough ambition, ride a very long way.
We’ll be honest about the Auburn Hills stretch: it’s a roughly two-mile paved-and-crushed-stone segment that leans more urban-and-industrial than postcard-pretty, with a few busy road crossings to mind. The dreamier scenery is toward the Rochester end. But as a flat, free, dog-friendly way to walk, run, or bike — and to actually connect towns under your own power — it’s a genuine asset. We’ve got it on our list as an easy, free outdoor default in Auburn Hills.
