BENZIE COUNTY – The Friends of Betsie Valley Trail made some innovations to their trail features in 2022 and also added some gadgets to the trail itself.
Earlier this year, friends purchased a 16-by-32-inch prefabricated garage shed to purchase trail maintenance materials. The shed was installed at the beginning of the Adams Road trail in July, according to a Facebook post from the organization.
According to the Friends of the Betsie Valley Trail Winter Newsletter, the shed lately houses a new blower purchased through the organization to remove leaves and debris from the trail that can be towed by any vehicle.
The shed will also purchase fabrics for Joy2Ride, a nonprofit that helps nursing home citizens and others who can’t ride bikes on their own have fun on the Betsie Valley Trail with special tandem bikes. Joy2Ride began bringing patients to healthcare services in 2018 and exclusively uses the trail for its programs.
The hangar cost a total of $20,000 and was made imaginable through investments from various sources, adding a $7,500 grant from the Seabury Foundation, a $5,000 Mountain Dew Outdoor grant, and personal donations.
The winter report also notes the installation of some other “fix it” station at the trailhead in Elberta in October. The station includes an air pump, equipment for adjusting the brakes, diverters and bolts of different sizes.
According to the bulletin, this is the station of moment purchased through the organization. The first installed at the head of the Beulah Trail.
The new station was purchased with a $1,500 grant from the Cherry Capital Cycling Club.
The organization also worked on raising the budget to pave the road between Beulah and Thompsonville. The allocation would charge $2. 9 million to open 12. 3 miles of track, according to the bulletin.
“The trail’s final touch will allow Thompsonville to become the middle of a regional trail network (as it once was for rail traffic), making Benzie County the center of northwest Michigan that connects to trail networks throughout Michigan,” he said. Other teams, such as the Thompsonville Area Revitalization Project, the Friends of SMARTrails Manistee and TART Trails, are working to make this a reality. “
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources also made innovations to the trail in 2022. The ministry renovated the “pocket park” at Lewis Bridge Overlook, according to previous reports. The site was made available to the Americans with Disabilities Act, the trail was graded and repaved, benches and bike racks were installed, and signage was installed with data about the trail and the historical significance of the bridge.
For more information, visit the Friends of the Betsie Valley Trail on betsievalleytrail. org or their Facebook page.