Proposed Trails

Glenn Wolff Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail

The Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail will be a new amenity for the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The trail will run for 27 miles from the northern end of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, where M-22 and County Road 651 meet, to a point just south of Empire on Manning Road. To safely accommodate users such as bicyclists, walkers, people in wheelchairs and cross-country skiers, the trail will measure 10 feet wide and have two foot shoulders, and the surface will alternate between asphalt and smoothly compacted crushed limestone. Boardwalks will trace above wetlands to avoid filling any of these critical habitat areas.

For the most part, the trail will run parallel to existing road corridors, and in the places where it departs, the trail will be built over old logging roads, abandoned railroads and existing trails to keep forest disruption to a minimum. Where the trail runs though the villages of Glen Arbor and Empire, users will divert to low-traffic roads, on routes approved by village councils. It is a legacy trail that will forever offer a special means to experience the Lakeshore, connect communities, recreate and have fun.

The first five miles of the SBHT, from Glen Arbor to the Dune Climb, will be complete in spring of 2012.

Boardman River TrailThe Boardman River Trail Committee, composed of various partners and spearheaded by Richard Naperala, formed in 2010 to explore feasibility of developing a 24-mile trail that follows the Boardman River Valley from Traverse City to the North Country Trail (NCT). Most of the proposed trail is in forested area on existing dirt paths and two-tracks. From the NCT users can continue on to connect with the Vasa Pathway and head back to Traverse via the TART Trail, resulting in a 46-mile loop.

The Boardman River Trail (BRT) will be developed in three sections; the first extending from the NCT to Mayfield, the second from Mayfield to Beitner Road and the final section from Beitner Road to the existing Boardman Lake Trail in Traverse. Timeframe for trail development will depend on the feasibility findings.

Trails users will enjoy lakes, rivers, boardwalks, bridges, scenic vistas, forest and wildlife. The BRT will also serve as a connecting trail for people to safely walk or bike to the soccer fields, the YMCA, the Nature Education Reserve, Kingsley and the NCT. The trail will be ideal for backpacking, bike camping, trail running, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, bird watching, photography and wildlife study.

A more detailed list of future trails and projects is outlined in our 5-year work plan.

TART Trails 5-year work plan, 2005-2010 (pdf)

Pearl’s and Short’s Bluegrass, Bourbon, Blues and Beer Festival
Calling all Traverse City and Garfield Township residents- Meeting July 21

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