Iron Ore Heritage Trail receives National Recreation Trail Designation

ISHPEMING — Being up in the U.P. it may be hard to get national recognition. When a local site becomes nationally recognized, it must be something special.

The Iron Ore Heritage Trail was designated a National Recreation Trail by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior. It is one of 19 trails in 17 states to be designated this year. In addition meeting the designated standards, the trail needed another component that connects residents both geographically and sentimentally.

“I always say when you’re on the outskirts of the United States, the fringes, you always need to look for something that going to give you national designation and get yourself on the map, so that’s what we always try to do,” said Carol Fulsher, Administrator for the Iron Ore Heritage Recreation Authority. “Our goal always was to connect the people to the places that really mattered, and we go along the shoreline as well, so it’s geography and history.”

The designation comes with trail markers that will be installed along the trail.