No worries, am not very sensitive.
I know alot has changed around there and is always changing, I noticed a new road on google maps that connect 21 mile with [what should be] 20 mile.
I rarely ever head towards Gratiot unless I need gas or something, so I know next to nothing about those locations.
For years we used to watch shows right on 20 mile literally at the end of the runway [or on north river road on the other side].
Cops generally didn't mess with you as long as you were not parked right in front of the runway, which could block a set of lights for the pilot.
They eventually started moving people further and further down the road, and finally no parking or standing at all there. After that we started parking across the street from the boneyard, a few machine shops there.
Then we'd hike through the woods, pretty dense back then, I used to bring a machete along to clear a trail. We had to hop a big fence, then we ended up in a sand pit of sorts which is right behind where we used to watch in the street, and right in front of the Sugarbush site.
Sand pit is still there and is visible in the pic I posted.
Great spot, had a nice crest so cops couldn't see you. No shade though, and it was quite a hassle trekking through the woods. One year my uncle noticed a bunch of people watching the show behind a fence behind us, he says hey, I wonder how those people got back there ?
I said, don't know [and really didn't care].
He says, I'm going back there and ask them how they got there, I said have fun.
So he goes over there and a few minutes later he comes back and says you know what ? They said theres a road that runs all the way back here, and all this time we have been hiking through the woods like idiots !
He said, I'm gonna go back and drive my van around back there ,, He did, I managed to slither through the gate, and every since then we have been going to that spot, which itself is just a variation of other spots we have been forced out of over the years.
Trees there are a mixed blessing, nice shade but they do partially block your view. But thats easy enough to get around either by walking into the parking lot or going up the trail to the fence behind the sand pit.
Has a nice grassy knoll to pitch a sun shelter, kids if any have plenty of room to run around and play ball or whatever. Even some deer, wild roosters and jackals roaming around sometimes, pretty serene and isolated.
So after all of the ratty spots I have had over the years and all the effort into getting to them, I am very pleased with this spot and recommend it to others. First and foremost though is the view of aircraft, I don't compromise on that and would ditch this spot in a second if I though I could do any better.
In lieu of cops letting people park and watch from 20 mile rd again, which will never happen, this is as close to the approach as you can possibly get. I'm just worried they will block access to this spot, but I have the same worry every show and its all about nothing. Too many businesses and residences in the area for them to completely block it.
