Winter Trail Open House & Trailblazing at Leelanau State Park

Five organizations invite you to join them this Saturday, January 5th from noon – 3 PM for a community celebration & trailblazing open house for the 7- mile winter sports trail system at Leelanau State Park north of Northport.

The Winter Sports Trail officially opened last December 1st for the 2017/2018 season with a series of 2-3 mile groomed trail loops that offer fun and adventure to fat tire bikers, xc skiers, snowshoers, and winter hikers. The multi-use trail is meant to support a wide variety of activities, and has been developing over time through a volunteer partnership between Bike Leelanau, Northern Michigan Mountain Bike Association, North Shore Outfitters, Suttons Bay Bikes, and rangers at Leelanau State Park.

The Trailblazing Open House is family-friendly and teens and youth are encouraged to come and explore their newest community trail system. This event will feature members from the community talking about proper trail etiquette and use of the trail, free fat tire bike demos from Suttons Bay Bikes that can be taken out by riders throughout the day, free snowshoes from Friends of Leelanau State Park as well as a guided snowshoe hike, chili from North Shore Outfitters, and information about Leelanau County biking opportunities from Bike Leelanau.

The event will be held even if the Winter Sports Trail is not open to fat biking due to a lack of snow. Fat bikes can be demoed on the paved road. While we hope for snow so all trail users can check out the trail, we believe in the importance of teaching proper trail etiquette and see this event as a chance to discuss the Winter Sports Trail etiquette in conjunction with celebrating the additional ~7 miles of trails open to winter users at the Leelanau State Park.

Attendees can find parking at Leelanau State Park, at the Densmore Road Trailhead, located at the end of Densmore Road, past Woolsey Airport.