Brighton Recreation Area

With 21 miles of well-maintained bridle trails and a designated equestrian campground, the Brighton Recreation Area located in Southeast Michigan in Howell is the perfect setting for day trips or overnight adventures. The staging area and equestrian campground are located off Chilson Road, at the western terminus of Bishop Lake Road, southwest of the town of Brighton. With plenty of room for the big rigs, the staging area contains a pavilion, a vault toilet, fire ring, grill, a mounting block, running water, and plenty of picket posts.

Tucked into the woods, the beautiful rustic equestrian campground is adjacent to the staging area and has 15 campsites, complete with two vault toilets, two manure compost pits, running water at the top of the bottom of the camp drive circle and corrals at sites 6, 9, 11, 13 and 17. The bridle trails are directly accessible from both the campground and the staging area. Some of the sites in the campground were recently leveled and are now much more accessible.

The equestrian trail system encompasses well over 1,000 acres of high-quality forest and wetland. The trail system can be broken into four main segments, separated by rural dirt roads. The campground trails take you through upland forest via many different connected trail loops; please note that some of the loops in this segment are somewhat steep and rocky. Heading west, the trail takes you across Richardson Road, where you cross a small stream and have views of the lovely Chenango Lake; there is a longer loop option within this segment that takes you through another segment of upland forest. Continuing to the west, after you cross Chambers Road to ride around Dessome of the nicest forested wetland that you will find in Livingston County. Be ready to be wowed during trillium season. The final segment is the Brady Road loop, which is not to be missed! You can access this loop from the designated trail that heads north from the third trail segment west of Chambers or by riding northward down Chambers and heading west on Schafer. The Brady Road loop takes you through a combination of field and woodland, with gorgeous views of the surrounding emergent wetlands. This gorgeous trail system is well marked with trail maps, complete with a numbering system.

The paved road heading to camp and the staging area was repaired and sustainable re-routes for the eroded trails near the staging area were completed in 2024. Come see why Brighton has many fans from Michigan and beyond! Thank you to the Brighton Trail Riders Association for your work here on behalf of trail riders.

Brighton Rec also offers riding to the public at the Brighton Riding Stables, check them out to see the trails even if you don’t own your own horse.