Over 8 miles of hiking and mountain biking trails have been completed in Cheboygan County, offering high speeds and views of the county’s inland waterways.
The Little Traverse Land Conservancy — the organization which owns the nearly 150 acre parcel — set Friday as the opening day for the trails.
This comes after years of fundraising and construction spearheaded by the Melvin Family of Burt Lake.
Mark Melvin previously told IPR News that the new trails are another way for residents to appreciate the outdoors – like he did when he spent his summers up north as a child.
“My wife says I never stopped,” he said. “I'm usually out doing something, you know, whether it be skiing, sailing, waterskiing, boating, fishing, shooting, you know, whatever it is, I'm doing something.”
The trails are located near the village of Topinabee and are the first professionally-designed and built mountain biking trails for Cheboygan County.
LTC hired Rock Solid Contracting, LLC, which also built the Copper Harbor Trails in the Upper Peninsula and LTC’s own Tanton Family Working Forest Reserve Mountain Bike Trails in Petoskey.
About 130 individual donors also contributed to the project, adding up to over $400,000.
“This project has been an exceptionally fast and high-quality experience thanks to the motivation and support of the Melvin Family and many local donors who made it all happen,” said Kieran Fleming, the Conservancy’s executive director.
The biking terrain includes gravity trails, sidewinder segments, skills features, rollers, berms, and more. Separate hiking trails follow old logging roads and also provide emergency vehicle access.
Emily Hughes is Chief Development officer at LTC. She says while the opening is just in time for biking season, the trails will be accessible yearround.
“What's beautiful is you do have a few switchbacks to get up the trail at the beginning, and then you're going to be at an overlook of Mullet Lake… just spectacular,” she said.
The trails are open for public use as of Friday. A dedication ceremony will also be held at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, June 11.
