Northern: Upper Penninsula Trails

[Da Yooper]

All trails around Marquette Mtn. are in very good shape. Harlow Lk. is fast , dry and also in very good condition. Noquemonon trails ( Dead River area) are in excelent shape as well. Looks like summer is finally here!

[haapf]

BRIDGE BROKEN!!!! The second trail on the right at the top of Benson. Right after the big roll in and straight back up the hill. The ramp to the first bridge you get to is broken on one side. I just fell off the side of it a few minutes ago. Didn't feel to good and I am hoping nobody else gets hurt.

[haapf]

Lift service cancelled for 2005 summer season at Marquette Mountain. Check this link for more information.

[elsievo]

Major portions of single track have been completed. The signage isn't up yet, hopefully can get most up by early fall. 8 - 10 miles of singletrack added in the last two years. Hungry for singletrack? . . . try the Keweenaw sampler, Tech Trails, Churning Rapids, Swedetown, Copper Harbor.

We're having a bike race on the 19th of August to help create a source of revenue for signage and trail maintenance. Details at www.keweenawtrails.com, follow links to Deer Chase.

Coming up for a ride, stop in a Cross Country Sports in Calumet and pick up a map.

[dirt]

Lift service cancelled for 2005 summer season at Marquette Mountain. Check this link for more information.

I'm confused. The link says that lift service is open.

[UPTranceMan]

Get to know some of the local bikers. I stay away from Marquette since they have gone nuts on what the world needs. There are countless miles of great single track within 25 miles of Marquette. South and East are some great place.

[Jibbs_02]

I think that overall the NTN has been good for Mountain biking in Marquette. They have taken trails that were so eroded that they could not be ridden and made them ridable. I don't think you can disagree with the maps and signs either. It makes the trails more accessible to those who might not have ridden the trails at all.

In particular, the trail split-tree upper (now part of the Mount Marquette loop) redo was a mixed blessing. Before the NTN it was vary dangerous to ride due to steep eroded trail sections. Then the NTN came in and built new trails bypassing the eroded sections, which got me riding the trail again after I said I never would again. However, the trail before the rebuild was built perfectly, you could almost let your bike do all the work on the large banked curves and switchbacks. Split-tree upper in its prime was an experience none like I have ever had before on a bike. The new trail's sections however are dangerous in a different way. You get to have a false sense of safety and get going really fast when out of nowhere you come to a hairpin turn thats not banked and is on the side of a cliff. Also some of the turns are not natural and I have had a couple times where my life has flashed before my eyes on the new trail. I don't have the same feeling of letting my bike and the trail do all the work on the new trail. I now have to slam on the breaks and make hard jerky motions on the handlebars. It is nowhere near as smooth and refreshing as it used to be (pardon the coke pun).

But I still think the NTN is doing a good job and it is something that needs to be done. And Haaph, if it wasn't for the NTN pushing the Prison to let riders on the Carp river trail we wouldn't be able to ride there at all. We need to take the good with the bad and support the effort by the NTN to improve are trails.

[macbean]

Lift service cancelled for 2005 summer season at Marquette Mountain. Check this link for more information.

I'm confused. The link says that lift service is open.

psst... Nick... That was posted in july 2005... looks like they're open for summer 2006

[Di_bear]

After a bit of a rain, the dust is down and the trails are great for riding.

New bridges were built on Dragon loop, including the Dragon bridge - all new.

The guys are currently building a series of new dirt jumps.

[volklgirl]

We tried to ride the Mount Marquette Loop on Friday, but got totally lost, went the wrong way on the one-way trail, and somehow ended up on the Carp River Loop (?). The area is confusing and not very well signed for first timers, but the riding was great with some seriously scary downhills.

If you go....get someone local to show you around!!

[Dan_Harrison]

We tried to ride the Mount Marquette Loop on Friday, but got totally lost, went the wrong way on the one-way trail, and somehow ended up on the Carp River Loop (?). The area is confusing and not very well signed for first timers, but the riding was great with some seriously scary downhills.

If you go....get someone local to show you around!!

This ties in with something I posted to another thread-- Marquette is definitely making the jump to *destination* trail riding. Trails that used to be strictly the domain of the local riders are now attracting visitors who tend to get lost, due to the lack of signage. Not everybody is happy with the change-- I hear some local riders complain about the place being overrun by "trolls" (folks who live under the Bridge). Put it down to "growing pains."
I know there are people working on improving the signage, and I hope that vandalism doesn't rear its ugly head. It's not nice to deliberately get folks lost when hypothermia is a threat even in July...
Dan

[STP300]

Visitor to the U.P. with an Update.

Hey All,

I'm a southeast chapter rider working a temporary assignment 15 minutes south of Marquette. Today, I set out to ride the Range Mountain Bike Trail system originating from Downtown Ishpeming.

Fall is upon the U.P. and leaves are starting to fall from the trees and cover some of the trails. Rain has not been heavy enough to leave standing water on any of the trails that I rode today. The single track dirt was damp and grippy but, not slow.

I have a Marquette Region Hike and Bike 2005 Trail Guide which I used as a starting point today for my first ride.

I had no trouble finding the trail head and started out on what I hoped would be a comprehensive ride on an advanced trail. Armed with my GPS unit and the trail map I started down the two track looking for 'Any' trail sign which might designate the start of an 'official' trail. Instead what I found was miles of RV (quad) trails which were non-directional and anywhere where there may have been a sign... The sign had been removed and only a sign post remained. After almost an hour of back tracking and looking to my left and right off every road/trail I was on... I gave up on finding anything that remotely resembled true bicycle single track.

Frustrated, I trecked my way back to the 'trail-head'. Once at the trail head I re-examind the map and found several notes which I failed to read which would have proved useful and decided to make my way over to the trails located North of town.

Within the notes of this particular trail system map there was a listing for a weekly MTB ride out of Ishpiming. A contact person's number was listed so I thought 'What the *beep*?' So, I called this person (identity concealed just in case there are some boneheads who want to comment about this person) and they were very helpful and they went so far as to offer to meet me for a ride to show off some of the single track. Not even 15 minutes later my host and I were standing in front of a trail head. For the next hour this person took me on some fantastic homemade single track as we managed to cover 6 miles in an hour. I was super appreciative and I am planning on doing the local weekly ride tomorrow night.

Looking forward to experiencing more local flavor.

Ed

[STP300]

Wild, wild, West! I did the Wednesday night MTB ride out of Jasper Brewing Company in Ishpiming. Great people and a great ride. It seems like the only way to find the local trails up here is to ride with the locals.

Climbing! find the granny gear and get up on the front of your seat because you will hit a couple STEEP difficult climbs.

Downhills! on two occasions my butt was about 1" above my rear tire.

Riding up here reminds me of when I first rode a MTB back when I was 13yrs old. My friends and I would try to ride through the woods. These guys and gals have cleared trails in the woods, the key word being 'cleared'. If you weren't 20 feet behind another rider you wouldn't know you were on a trail. Honestly.

Anyway, what a great group ride with a bunch of strong riders who very obliging and very friendly. Several members of the group are personally responsible for creating major sections of trail and are more then happy to show an out of towner what good riding is. As we had dinner at the Brewery after the ride the group discussed riding Marquette Mountain this weekend. I was invited along but plan on being back in the motorcity this upcoming weekend. But, plan on making the Wednesday night ride next week.

The group ride was in the parking lot at 6PM and we got under way at about 6:15PM. The temperatures were in the low 40's and it was kinda raining yet we still had 12 riders. Almost everyone had lights and they pulled them out when it got dark at about 7:15 (in the woods) Next Wednesday I will bring my light as the group says they ride until there is snow on the trail.

[Dan_Harrison]

Glad to hear you're making friends with the natives, Ed.

Do you get a sense that the signage is poor because, "hey, we all know where to go," or because it's a yooper/troll thing, like I mentioned earlier?
It sounds like Ishpeming is in pretty much the same situation as Marquete, where visitors are looking for trails, and getting lost a lot.
If there's a local riding group that's halfway organized, they might want to look into cheap but effective signage. The best source is the Cross Country Ski Areas Association, and is used all over the north for XC ski trails. We've been using it at ILRA and other MTB trails downstate for years. Here's a link to their catalog:
http://www.xcski.org/ski_area_services/TrlSgnCtlg.html

At $40 per 100, the color-coded diamonds with arrows are the best bargain. You could pass the tuque for beer money and collect enough to do a trail system.
Enjoy the fall weather,
Dan

[JonathanGennick]

Do you get a sense that the signage is poor because, "hey, we all know where to go," or because it's a yooper/troll thing, like I mentioned earlier?Dan

I really doubt it's a yooper/troll thing. It's probably just a bunch of people who went out and made some fun trails to ride on. And then they probably just want to ride and have fun. I completely understand that. Putting signs up is taking things to a whole different level, and there's more involved then than just putting up the signs.

I kinda think it's fun to explore trail systems without signage. There's a certain satisfaction you get as you begin to know your way around such a system, because you've earned that knowledge the hard way. And I like the sense of exploration. That's really why I like to ride. I like having a maze of trails to explore. For me it's the thrill of exploration more than the riding itself.

I've a friend in town who drives all over the U.P. to explore. I'm sort of the same way, except that I explore a smaller area really, really well.

I remember Dan, that you mentioned the trails in Marquette area in one of your notes. From reading that and other notes, I get the sense of a trail system having grown up organically over the years, and somewhat under the radar. And then all of a sudden everything probably got formalized. (I'm guessing a bit here, and I could well be dead wrong) That sort of sudden change can be jarring. All of a sudden you have rules and signs and an organization (and dues maybe?). On the good side though, you probably get better trail maintainance, signage, and some assurance that the trails won't all disappear at the whim of a landowner.

I'm not sure I believe in the whole "yooper/troll" schism. I hear the word "troll" a lot, but always in good fun. When I moved up here six years back, I never got the sense that the locals were bothered by the fact that I wasn't born here. Sure, it takes awhile to meet people and really get to know them, and to know the area, but I've never felt excluded or discriminated against. Maybe I've just had exceptionally good luck.

That ride, and the trails in Ishpeming sounds fun. I think I may try and get in touch w/those people. I'd probably slow 'em down though. I'm not a terribly fast rider.