Treetown Tussle Guide
The Treetown Tussle is a FREE & FUN run organized by your friends at Ann Arbor Running Company that showcases Ann Arbor’s best trails. The run starts and finishes at Ann Arbor Running Company (209 S. Ashley, Ann Arbor, MI 48104). The 13+ mile route includes the following trails in Treetown (Ann Arbor) - Bluffs, Kuebler Langford, Bird Hills, Barton, Black Pond Woods, Barton-Argo, and Nichols Arboretum. 70% of the course is on gnarly singletrack trails. There is also a 5+ mile mini treetown tussle that includes Bluffs, Kuebler Langford and Sunset Brooks.
ALTRA DEMO SHOES
Test out a pair of Altra Running shoes before, during, or after the run.
PARKING
Downtown street parking in Ann Arbor on Sunday’s is free. There are also a parking lots on the corner of 1st & Huron and 1st & Liberty.
ROUTES
Detailed descriptions of the routes can be found below. Some Garmin GPS watches allow you to program the route into your watch and get directions/notifications if you get off course. If your watch has this feature we highly recommend that you upload the route to your watch. Info on how to do that HERE. You can get the TCX/GPX file at the Strava links below.
We will primarily use WHITE FLOUR on the trees and ground to mark the course. When we can't do that we will mark with PINK RIBBON. When we can't do that we will mark with PINK CHALK on the ground. We can’t guarantee that it will be 100% marked the morning of the event. There are no water stations or anything fancy like that on the course, so please BYOB (bring your own beverage) if you think you’ll need something.
POST RUN @ AARC
Test out some Altra Running shoes and hang out with your tussling friends. Post-run Washtenaw Dairy donuts will be available and Sweetwaters next door will be selling pumpkin spice lattes and things like that. Purchase a pair of Altra Running shoes and get a FREE AARC singlet #whilesupplieslast
13+ MILE DETAILED ROUTE DESCRIPTION
0 - 1.0 miles : Head north on S ASHLEY. Left onto FELCH. Right onto SPRING. Right onto HISCOCK. HISCOCK will turn into WILDT. Hard left turn onto SUNSET. You’ll start to head up Sunset Hill (HELL YEAH!) and right after you pass the Elk Lodge driveway on the right you’ll enter THE BLUFFS.
1.0 - 3.6 miles : Stay to the left as you enter THE BLUFFS. At 2.0 miles you’ll exit THE BLUFFS trails into a random parking lot. Turn right out of the parking lot onto HURONVIEW BLVD. HURONVIEW ends at MAIN STREET. Turn left and stay on the grass. Continue left onto HURON RIVER DRIVE and straight, passing under M-14. Turn left into KUEBLER LANGFORD. As you enter this area the trail will be cutting through a field for about a ¼ of a mile and then you’ll hang a right into the woods. At 3.6 miles you will cross BEECHWOOD ROAD and enter BIRD HILLS. Stay left on the trails as you make your way into BIRD HILLS.
3.6 - 6.9 miles : As you get to the west side of BIRD HILLS stay on the main trail that runs through the center of the park. At 5.0 miles you’ll exit the park through a gate and make a right onto BIRD RD and then shortly after that you will cross HURON RIVER DR and run through the grass field into BARTON NATURE AREA. Cross the bridge over the Huron River and then hang a hard right immediately after you cross the bridge onto the trail that follows the river. At 6.4 miles you’ll cross the railroad tracks. Head northeast until you get to BARTON DRIVE and turn right. Take BARTON DRIVE to WHITMORE LAKE RD and hang a left… then a right into the TRAILS that goes under US-23 and continue to head east.
6.9 - 9.4 miles : At 7.9 miles your will cross PONTIAC TRAIL and head into BLACK POND WOODS. At 9.0 miles you will exit the trail onto TIBBITS & BROOKSIDE DR. Continue west on BROOKSIDE and cross PONTIAC TRAIL at 9.1 miles. Turn left onto DELAFIELD, then right onto HILLDALE and then left onto BREDE. At 9.4 miles cross BARTON DRIVE and head west on the wooden path.
9.4 - 12.1 miles : At 9.6 miles make a hard left down the wooden stairs to get onto the BARTON ARGO TRAIL that follows the Huron River. At 10.4 miles you will enter Argo Park where there is a restroom and drinking fountain. At 10.5 miles turn left onto the B2B trail at the CASCADES. Continue heading west on the B2B until MAIDEN LN and turn right. Cross the Huron River and continue to head straight towards the hospital. MAIDEN LN turns into E MEDICAL CENTER DR near the hospital. At 11.5 miles turn left onto NICHOLS DR which heads down into a hospital parking lot. Continue straight into the ARB. At 12.1 miles make two hard rights to head up the path with stairs.
12.1 - 13.6 miles : Head up the trail with stairs and continue straight through the ARB PEONY GARDEN and then exit the park onto WASHINGTON HEIGHTS. Left onto OBSERVATORY. At 12.8 miles make a slight right onto the path that cuts into campus by the CCRB. Cross the pedestrian bridge over WASHTENAW. Slight right onto N UNIVERSITY. Right onto STATE. Left onto LIBERTY. Right onto S ASHLEY and back to AARC!
5+ MILE DETAILED ROUTE DESCRIPTION
The Mini Treetown Tussle follows the same route as the 13+ for the first 3.6 miles (see above). At 3.6 miles make a left onto BEECHWOOD DRIVE (do not enter BIRD HILLS). You will then cross under M-14 and then make a right into SUNSET BROOKS NATURE AREA. At 3.9 miles when exiting the trails make a left onto SUNSET. Right onto SPRING. Left onto FELCH. Right onto ASHLEY and back to AARC.
