Michigan Trail pass increase

mezz

Well-known member
I remember when the trail permits first became a reality & they were $10.00. At that time, the trails were not well groomed but, we still persisted to push on. To go to Copper Harbor & back was close to 100 miles round trip & it was not smooth sailing at all and the sleds had very little suspension. It wasn't long after we stuck to backwoods trips north as it we were in the deep untracked snow & very few other sleds. We were all on 121" tracks so we relied on each other for help once in a while when there was a stuck. Good times. A little extra info, the groomers at the time were Tucker groomers which were used for ski hill grooming, they weren't made to do the job that they were put through & as a result, there were a lot of breakdowns. The good old days.
 
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heckler56

Well-known member
I remember when the trail permits first became a reality & they were $10.00. At that time, the trails were not well groomed but, we still persisted to push on. To go to Copper Harbor & back was close to 100 miles round trip & it was not smooth sailing at all and the sleds had very little suspension. It wasn't long after we stuck to backwoods trips north as it we were in the deep untracked snow & very few other sleds. We were all on 121" tracks so we relied on each other for help once in a while when there was a stuck. Good times.
It was how I learned to love my first sled, Yamaha EW433C. High/low gearing and wide track. I like to think I was the first person to use trail 417 between Mqt & Munising before it was a trail.. I still have the old train track maps of the UP 😁 that many are todays trails.
 

J.Glenn

Active member
It was how I learned to love my first sled, Yamaha EW433C. High/low gearing and wide track. I like to think I was the first person to use trail 417 between Mqt & Munising before it was a trail.. I still have the old train track maps of the UP 😁 that many are todays trails.
Able to share that map? I've always been curious how many railroad tracks have been converted to trails. My dad put in 40+ years with the C&NW and Union Pacific, so we've always chatted about that.
 

whitedust

Well-known member
Able to share that map? I've always been curious how many railroad tracks have been converted to trails. My dad put in 40+ years with the C&NW and Union Pacific, so we've always chatted about that.
If they aren’t groomed trails now they are all overgrown with trees. I found some abandoned RR tracks in Phelps 20 years ago probably used for logging and you could bushwhack some of it but it was very tuff going without a saw. Lol I gave it up too much work and I’m sure I didn’t belong there in the first place and no idea who to contact.
 
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