MTB TRAIL STATS

Avg Rating:	2 trail reviews
Status: Closed updated 12/8/07 by copperhippie Closed Open Wet / Sketchy	Difficulty: Advanced
Length: 20 miles	Global Rank: 651
Tread: Singletrack	Configuration: Network
Ridden: 8	Wishlist: 8
IMBA Epic Trail

 

  
reviewed by copperhippie on November 25, 2008

The trail elves were busy in 2008, including the construction of an elevated 1000'+, intermittant cedar-planked boardwalk (inlcuding a 800' section) on the new "Stairway to Heaven" Trail. This 2-way trail rides great in both directions and helps to transition a previous unpermissive section of knarley terrain, with a 150' change in vertical elevation. Several connections were made to better connect and eliminate the need to use any roads or two-tracks to link the singletrack...a new central trailhead has been officially established within the village at the Copper Harbor Welcome Center with this in mind. The Copper Harbor Trails Club hosted this IMBA Trail Care Crew and have over 50 participants attend the 2 day workshop...a 450' re-route was built, including a 75' bridge over the creek in the Michigan Nature Sanctuary's Jim Rooks Memorial Sanctuary. Extensive work was done to bench-cut over 1.5 miles of what will eventually become 2.5 miles of sweet singletrack along the steep south-facing slope of Brockway Mountain...plans for 2009 including completing this in addition to going up and over the Brockway Mountain to the north side, eventually connecting with the Township's property at Hunter's Point Park along Lake Superior's shore. New cedar trail signs, in the traditional Keweenaw County brown fashion, were made and posted around the trails to make them more user friendly. More info on the trails at www.copperharbortrails.org

* Review edited 11/25/2008

  
reviewed by copperhippie on December 8, 2007

Scenery, terrain, elevation & solitude. These are some of the factors that make the Copper Harbor Trails the absolute best in the Midwest! Located at Michigan's "top of the world" on a narrow peninsula that is a part of the larger Upper Peninsula, the Keweenaw (Peninsula) is surrounded by the world's largest freshwater sea, Lake Superior on three-sides. A true grass-roots effort by the Copper Harbor Trails Club has established a network of trails consisting of over 27 miles of sweet singletrack to date. This includes over 11 miles of IMBA standard, bench-cut trails, 23 rough-cut cedar bridges and boardwalks and an extensive amount of work performed cutting trail into mountain-sides of bedrock with the Club's gas -powered jackhammer in the 2006 & 2007 seasons alone. While the Copper Harbor Trails have been a constant work in progress for nearly a decade, they have been taken to a higher level in the past couple of years...this is evidenced by the number of new riders to the area who oooh and ahhh and return with smiling faces after each ride they encounter, increased presence of mountain bikers in town and record attendance at the annual Fat Tire Festival, mountain bike race, held on Labor Day Weekend. With a cooperative effort of support from several neighboring land owners including the State, County, Township and an individual with significant acreage, the Club is only limited by the amount of time they can put in. This year's cumulative tallies are still being reported, however, the Club is on track to surpass its 2006 trail work total of 1800 hours - not bad for a town consisting of about 80 year round residents! The Club has an ambitous agenda set forth and realistically foresees doubling the singletrack trail network within the next 3-5 years. In their own regard, the trails honestly rival some of the best trails some Club members recently got to ride in Durango, Moab and Fruita! The Trails here are destined to become Michigan's next IMBA Epic Ride designation...you owe it to yourself to check it out and if so, submit your review. More info at www.copperharbortrails.org and www.copperharbor.org

* Review edited 12/9/2007

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