Inaugural Marquette Trails Festival underway

This weekend features a number of outdoor events for everyone to take part in.

Friday kicked off the inaugural Marquette Trails Festival.

Trails Fest is a weekend dedicated to enjoying the world-class trails Marquette has to offer.

The event is put on by the Noquemanon Trail Network, and chose this weekend because it coincides with Saturday’s National Trails Day.

“We have everything from some pretty hard core mountain bike races to running races, there’s a half marathon, there’s a 5K trail run,” Marquette Trails Festival race coordinator Candy Fletcher said.

There are also plenty of events to get kids involved, including Friday’s family hike on the NTN’s South Trailhead.  The hike was hosted by the North County Trail Hikers Association as a way to promote hiking among kids.

“We want to promote families and kids getting out in the woods enjoying the flora and fauna and having a good time, fighting the bugs,” North County Trail Hikers Association president Lorana Jinkerson said.

“It’s better to be out active, enjoying our natural world and learning about nature and just enjoying…being together as a family.”

“I’m excited about the kids races (this weekend),” Fletcher said.  “I think that getting these little guys involved and getting them excited about this, and hopefully this will continue year after year, so I’m really excited about that.”

Most events take place at Marquette Mountain or the South Trailhead parking lot.

A list of events and times can be found at marquettetrailsfest.com.