Trail network expands to connect more paths

MARQUETTE — Outdoors enthusiasts who like to bike, run, walk, or ski on the many trails in Marquette County will soon have even more space to play on.

The Noquemanon Trail Network recently purchased ten miles of silent sports trail easements and a forty–acre parcel of land from the Plum Creek Timber Company. The forty–acres of land purchased near the County Road Five Ten Trailhead, will connect certain trail easements that are used for the Ore to Shore and Noquemanon Ski Marathon races. According to the N–T–N, those two races account for two point five million dollars of economic impact in Marquette County every year.

“This trail system has become a major driver of economic impact in the area and by securing this trail, it helps secure the population of Marquette because a lot of people are moving to Marquette for the silent sport opportunities,” said Nikki DeWald from the Naquemanon Trail Network. “The easement basically at this point secures that area and there will always be a 66 foot wide trail there. There might be possibilities of moving that trail, but we always have an easement trail to put that trail to connect it down lower.”

The Noquemanon Trail Network was able to make these purchases through funding from the Eagle Mind Community Fund, the U.P. Sustainable Forestland Wildlife Fund, the Community Foundation of the Upper Peninsula, and private donations.