TART Trails to Groom Veronica Valley Park

The Traverse Area Recreation and Transportation (TART) Trails recently took possession of a new piece of grooming equipment to groom the Leelanau Trail for skiing between Traverse City and Suttons Bay. This new grooming attachment, called a Ginzu groomer, is designed to groom for both classic and skate ski techniques. TART Trails, Inc. is a nonprofit trail and pedestrian advocacy organization that manages cross-country ski grooming programs on both the Vasa Pathway and Leelanau Trail. The Leelanau Trail is generally groomed once a week, usually on Fridays or as snowfall dictates.

TART has made an agreement to groom Leelanau County’s Veronica Valley Park on Co Rd 641 on a trial basis. The initial groom was on Tuesday (2/16/10). Approximately 4 kilometers of trail were groomed for both classic and skate skiing. The Leelanau County Parks and Recreation Commission is hopeful that both visitors and county residents will take advantage of the newly groomed trails. If the groomed trails are popular with skiers; an arrangement will be made with TART trails to groom them for the remainder of the season. Veronica Valley is located in Bingham Township between County Road 641 (Lake Leelanau Drive) and Maple Valley Road. The 93-acre park was formerly a golf course owned by Bill and Diane Grant. The county purchased the property from the Grants in 2008 for $800,000, of which $580,811 was provided to the county through the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (MNRTF) and $25,000 from Rotary Charities.

About TART:
Traverse Area Recreation and Transportation (TART) Trails, Inc. is a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization formed in 1998 and located in Traverse City, Michigan. TART works to enrich the Traverse area by providing a network of trails, bikeways and pedestrian ways; and encouraging their use. TART Trails include a network of trail systems located in Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties: including the Boardman Lake Trail, Leelanau Trail, TART Trail, Three Mile Trail and Vasa Pathway. These trails combine to form over 60 miles of recreation and transportation pathways spanning from Suttons Bay to Acme Township. It is estimated that the trails serve over 200,000 users annually while preserving valuable community green space. TART is working to integrate these trails into the community by advocating for interconnected bike lanes, bike routes and sidewalks, and is also working to extend these trails to connect with a developing regional trails system. For more information about TART Trails, please visit www.traversetrails.org