To pave or not to pave the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail?

Glen Arbor Sun

Some citizens prefer compact earth or crushed limestone to asphalt

With at least one fundraising meeting under the belt, and checks already committed by local private-sector philanthropists, the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail appears to be on a momentous course for success. According to Tom Ulrich, Deputy Superintendent of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (the local branch of the National Park Service), construction could begin as early as next year.

This multi-use, biker-oriented trail within the Lakeshore will run roughly parallel to state highways M-22 and M-109 near the Dune Climb, and will one day stretch from Manning Road, south of Empire on the Leelanau-Benzie county line, to the Lakeshore’s northeastern border beyond Port Oneida. It will increase the region’s visibility as a biker destination and almost certainly bring more visitors into the Park.

Traverse Area Recreation and Transport (TART), which heads the fundraising effort, envisions that, one day, two-wheelers will be able to pedal from Traverse City to Northport and around the perimeter of Leelanau County, clear to Frankfort and the existing Betsie Valley Trail. Around nearly every turn, this grand idea has been greeted with open arms.

But the trail’s specifics — 10 feet wide with two-foot buffers on either side — and a push by TART and the Lakeshore to pave its surfaces (as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act) has some local residents worried that the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail will be not a trail, but a mini highway through the National Park.

Of particular concern is Segment Five of the proposed trail, which would divert west of M-109 near the Dune Climb and follow an historic narrow gauge railroad toward Glen Haven before running south of 109 (Harbor Highway) toward Glen Arbor, at the base of Alligator Hill. Segment Five may be the first portion of the trail constructed.

The Glen Arbor Sun met with a trio of citizens last week who, though supporters of the trail, oppose the exclusive use of asphalt and believe that a 14-foot-wide, paved trail is incompatible with the aesthetics of the National Lakeshore. Cookie and Becky Thatcher and Nancy Mueller worry that our precious Park is ceding land to TART, and bowing to the regulations of the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT, who would eventually install the asphalt), which they call “a highway service,” not a trail designer.

“The Park is giving TART free access to go in and build trails,” says Mueller. “This is a piece of land that went through national legislation to protect it. And yet TART is treating this like an extension of the Traverse City trail system. People come here to get away from pavement and sidewalks and typical suburban parks. Certain areas of our Park are not to be paved over.”

Mueller adds that Segment Five near Alligator Hill is zoned “recreation”. According to the Park’s General Management Plan, any such natural overall alterations must be designed to blend in with the rustic, natural landscape.

“I don’t believe that asphalt is rustic or unobtrusive. And yet this is the Park’s plan — a 14-foot, paved bicycle path.”

The width of the trail will require the removal of trees that would be unnecessary if it were more narrow, and rustic. Mueller fears that a wider trail means a straighter trail, and a faster trail. “When you take a two-lane and make it a four-lane road, people go a lot faster.”

Debates like these, between recreation and preservation, represent an age-old discussion within the National Park, says Tom Ulrich. We see these two camps square off every time the Lakeshore faces major decisions, be they a General Management Plan, parking lots at Glen Haven or North Bar Lake, or the scenic outlook at Pierce Stocking Drive.

“We always ask ourselves, ‘have we designed a trail that provides immense benefit without having a significant (environmental) impact?’” explains Ulrich. “The goal of this trail is to provide maximum utility for many users — hikers, rollerbladers, wheelchairs and both wide- and thin-tired bikes. The best way to do that is with a hard-surface trail.”

The Park’s Environmental Assessment revealed that pavement would have a minimal environmental impact on ecosystems such as those in Segment Five, which may also include a boardwalk over certain wetlands.

Cookie Thatcher believes that compact earth or crushed limestone would suffice for a trail surface that could still accommodate most bikes and non-motorized vehicles, and would prove more appealing to hikers who don’t favor pavement. She wants the Park to consider trying compact earth or crushed limestone first, for two or three years. If that doesn’t work, then pave it.

But Ulrich disagrees. Crushed limestone is not good for rainwater runoff, he says, whereas a paved surface would have a longer lifespan and serves a greater number of people. Ulrich has studied crushed limestone bike trails elsewhere in the United States, particularly one in Kansas, which, according to online commentary, hasn’t been kind on road bikes.

“Most narrow-tired bikers say they can’t ride there. They get too many flats. In fact, some former crushed limestone trails are redoing them. Earth trails are primarily used for mountain bikes.”

To Nancy Mueller, the Park and TART’s push for paved trails proves that the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail is a bike trail first and a multi-use trail second.

Becky Thatcher wonders to what degree the trail’s private financing has forced the Park’s hand. TART heads the fundraising, several prominent local businessmen have already pledged their support, and the federal government has offered up to $5 million in matching funds. In short, none of the money required to build this trail will come from the Park’s coffers.

“Are they trying to cooperate so much with MDOT and TART that they’re forgetting their own citizens who use the Park?” Becky asks.

Cookie Thatcher and Mueller, both of whom are certified trail masters, favor a packed earth trail that can be maintained by volunteers. Cookie alludes to popular natural trails in both Missouri and Lake Tahoe, Nev., which are used by bikers, hikers, and animals from horses to donkeys. She favors investing in a $100,000 machine that carves and compacts dirt into a two-foot wide path.

Some of the natural trails in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Cookie says, have been around since the loggers, and the Native Americans before them, tamped down by feet and hooves. “Not one piece of equipment has ever been back there.”

In addition, Cookie worries that this trail through hilly country couldn’t possibly conform to the maximum 10-percent grade required for wheelchairs by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“There isn’t anybody in a wheelchair who could get up the hill between Empire and Glen Arbor. They’d have to add switchbacks, which would be 14-feet wide and paved. That might mean paving the whole hill!”

Becky Thatcher says she welcomes the Leelanau County-wide trail with open arms, but only if it’s done in the right manner. She proposes building a packed earth surface for Segment Five between Glen Arbor and Dune Climb — the first phase that will be launched.

“It would serve as an example to people of how to install a trail that’s sensitive to the environment, and it could be done by volunteers. We don’t just have to pave it because it’s convenient and gives us a bike path. Instead we can teach kids how to adapt to the land and conserve it.”

Stay tuned for more perspectives on the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail in future editions of the Glen Arbor Sun, including interviews with local business owners who are already writing checks, and inside looks at the pros and cons of similar trails elsewhere in the United States.