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Bring on the Mountain Bike Trails!

Mountain bikers in Harbor Springs and Petoskey have been eagerly awaiting a great trail to ride just outside of town. Thanks to a partnership between the Conservancy and the Top of Michigan Mountain Bike Association (TOMMBA), the wait will not be much longer.

Located only 10 minutes southeast of Petoskey, the 236-acre Tanton Family Working Forest Reserve (WFR) is ideally located for residents and visitors. Positioned along Maxwell Road and directly east of the popular Allan and Virginia McCune Nature Preserve, the Tanton WFR offers rolling hills with steep ridges and sweeping valleys – a recipe for high adventure mountain biking!

A 6.29-mile trail system is planned. This trail will be multi-use, but optimized for mountain biking and will include one beginner trail, one intermediate trail, and one advanced trail.

To design and construct the trail system, LTC and TOMMBA have enlisted the talents of Rock Solid Trail Contracting, LLC. Rock Solid built the nationally-renowned Copper Harbor Trails and is recognized as one of the highest quality mountain bike trail building companies in the country. Fundraising for the trail began in early 2019, with a goal of raising $200,000 by May 2020.  That goal was surpassed by November 2019!  Trail construction is scheduled to begin in June 2020, with an 8-week construction window.

Mountain biking trails are also being noted for their contributions to a region’s economic growth. A recent study conducted at the Glacial Hills Pathway in Bellaire showed a clear correlation between the trail and economic benefits for that community, estimating an economic boost of $1.45 million annually for the city and county.

Would you like to learn more? Call the Conservancy at 231.347.0991 and ask for Emily.

The following article provides more details concerning the project.

To download a copy of this article, click here