Michigan Trail pass increase

[mezz]

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.

 

[heckler56]

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]

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]

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.

 

[heckler56]

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.

Hard to share. As I recall there is like a dozen large maps (and crispy now). Basically the DNR maps of the 60/70s that show a reasonable amount of detail.

 

[Hoosier]

I think the annual past should be higher and then maybe they have a 3 day pass for less. I know there are a lot of sleds that come out of the garage for family members that come up on the holidays. We have family near the border in northern WI. If we are up there we might take some of the sleds that just get used locally in Wisconsin up to say Gogebic for a day. $65 makes that not happen.

I'd like to know how much goes towards permanent easements. I think that is critical for the future of the sport as the type of people that own property is changing over time.

 

[goofy600]

Hoosier, I can’t give you an exact answer to the easement question but I can’t give tell you in Michigan the dnr really does work in this. If land comes available that has trails on it they are very willing to try to buy the land so they can avoid easement issues. I also believe they have money available for clubs to pay for easements if necessary. Our club is actually working on some of these potential issues now.