Just on the west side of the dam is a marked parking area and trailhead along 36th Street. At the trailhead signs instruct you to follow the sidewalk east along the dam, past a huge spillway, to where a mowed lane descends down the south side of the earthen berm that is the Hardy Dam. At the base of it signs lead you along a gravel road that includes views of the dam, generators and power lines. This is a nature trail?

Yes it is. At Mile 0.5 a large sign directs you to leave the gravel road and enter the woods on an actual foot path. Numbered posts appear almost immediately but they are easy to miss as the posts are short. The trail begins by following the edge of the river bluff to provide glimpses of the Muskegon River then swings inland and at Mile 0.75 crosses a stream in a small ravine on an impressive wooden bridge thoughtfully constructed by the Boy Scouts.

The trail remains level on the other side and winds through a beech-maple climax forest with trees so tall there is little undergrowth. At one point you skirt steep bluffs to the right of you with a small spring seeping out of the hillside and then tip-toe across a small stream near post No. 22. A larger stream with a foot bridge is reached at Mile 1.3 and at this point the trail follows the creek upstream and climbs into the bluffs.

You loop back to the trail between posts No. 23 and No. 24 and head left, reaching post No. 22 at Mile 1.5. From here you backtrack 1.25 miles to the trailhead and parking area on 36th Street.