Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail promotes access and safety

Glen Arbor Sun

Over the years, Bob Sutherland has taken his mother on countless walks along the quiet, rustic trail near the base of Alligator Hill, between Glen Arbor and Glen Haven. The president of Cherry Republic underwent a change of heart before he realized that this path should be turned into a multi-use trail and shared with bikers, hikers, rollerbladers and wheelchairs — for the greater good, he says. Cherry Republic has been a major funder of the push to build the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail — a 27-mile multi-use trail planned within the National Lakeshore, from the Leelanau-Benzie county line to north of Port Oneida.

Anderson’s Market owner Brad Anderson spends much of the school year in Traverse City, where he and his three kids enjoy the Traverse Area Recreation and Transportation (TART) bike trail between Suttons Bay and Acme, and in particular, “the connection that family biking brings to our lives.” But in the summer, when Anderson brings the family’s bikes to Glen Arbor, “they lay dormant as I rediscover the hazards of navigating the state highways in and around the (Sleeping Bear Dunes National) Lakeshore.”

Tom Reay, owner of Trattoria Funistrada in Burdickville, says he’s been advocating for a bike trail within the Lakeshore for over a decade — especially during the days when the Park’s attitude toward the concept was lukewarm at best. Reay laments how many tourists come to our region with bike racks on their vehicles but find nowhere — other than the edges of state highways, or rugged two-tracks — to use their two-wheelers, despite the fact that the Lakeshore’s 1976 mission statement mentions trails for biking (and in those days, mountain bikes weren’t yet mass produced).

Too many visitors still experience the Lakeshore from within an automobile and spend minimal time interacting with its wonders while hiking, swimming or biking. Reay says that the majority of tourists never stray more than 100 feet from their cars. Matt Wiesen, owner of Crystal River Outfitters (which also rents and services bikes), believes that the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail “will allow us to promote safe, family-oriented recreational opportunities within the National Park’s boundaries and showcase its beauty from within and not just from a passing car.”

For 25 years Miller Hill resident Sandy Miller (Hall of Fame retired Glen Lake basketball coach Don Miller is her husband) has biked from her house to Sugar Loaf, or into Glen Arbor and Glen Haven on M-22 and M-109. During that quarter century she’s seen this area bloom into a tourism mecca, and she’s seen automobile traffic increase and cars grow bigger and wider while pulling monstrous boats behind them. Driver distractions have increased accordingly (children in the backseat, maps, cell phones). In short, the number of people who want to enjoy the outdoors near Glen Arbor has surged, but the available roadways have not. Miller has experienced and witnessed numerous “near misses” between bikers and distracted drivers.

The Park’s Deputy Superintendent Tom Ulrich shakes his head at the irony of seeing children on bikes at the D.H. Day campground on M-109 doing circles in the gravel, because their parents don’t feel that the stretch of Harbor Highway between Glen Haven and Glen Arbor is safe enough for amateur bikers. Cars whizz by (often blinded, if they’re heading east during sunrise or west during sunset). As Sandy Miller says, “just like with coloring books, little kids aren’t always able to stay within the small lines on the roadside.” As a result, entire families often drive from the campground to the Dune Climb, or the mile to Anderson’s Market, to buy a single grocery item, when they could have easily biked that short distance.

Sutherland, Anderson, Reay, Wiesen and Miller are all proponents of the planned Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail and active on its fundraising committee, which is a joint effort between local citizens and Traverse City-based TART Trails. The Park supports the trail on its land but will not finance its development or construction. In order to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and thus receive matching funds, the majority of the trail will be paved and 10 feet wide, with two-foot buffers on either side.

The prospect of an asphalt trail running through the Park (and the Alligator Hill/M-109 stretch in particular) has generated passionate opposition from some locals: see “To pave or not to pave the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail?” in our July 15 edition, and numerous comments, both pro- and con- on our website, GlenArbor.com. “If the Park must put in a trail then let it be crushed limestone and only 5 feet wide,” opines Glen Arborite Paul May, whose perspective is shared by many.

But as we reported then, this project has been in development for nearly four years, support for the trail has reached a critical mass, and with the Park’s support and local business owners writing checks, it won’t be long before the Glen Arbor region can add yet another feather to its hat — as a safe and accessible bicycle destination for the entire family, amateur and experienced riders alike.

“I strongly believe that the Lakeshore is a family destination, particularly a young family destination,” says Brad Anderson. “Creating new opportunities for families to enjoy the Park will create special memories and timeless connections to the land. Families will use these 27 miles of trail to discover places they never would have without it.”

Sandy Miller says that she was initially skeptical about the idea of an asphalt trail in the woods (where a natural footpath had existed before), but that now she supports a trail and surface that will permit the broadest range of use. For Miller, two tenants trump all others: access and safety.

“We have become a destination for those interested in all manners of outdoor activities. I believe that we have an obligation and responsibility to provide safe access for those activities.”