Leelanau Trail | exploRVistas

Sometimes a wonderful resource is born from misfortune.

In 1901, the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad completed a spur from Traverse City to Northport, Michigan under the name Traverse City, Leelanau and Manistique Rail Road. As part of the line, they also established a rail car ferry from Northport to Manistique in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Prior to that in 1874, they completed a rail spur from Traverse City back to their main north-south line (Cincinnati, Ohio to Mackinaw City, Michigan) at the tiny village of Walton, Michigan, later renamed Walton Junction. That 1874 line began the immigration boom that Traverse City still sees to this day. Diana and I had passed through Walton Junction for years on our way to her parent’s cottage on Fife Lake, never realizing that the name was derived from the meeting of theses two rail lines.

Competing with the already-established Ann Arbor Railroad for freight across the lake, it was quickly discovered that the ferry service wasn’t going to be profitable, so it was discontinued in 1908. Freight and passenger service continued on through several different companies until 1975. In 1989, the Leelanau Scenic Railway was established on the line, running to Suttons Bay until 1995, at which time the right-of-way was abandoned and the tracks were torn up. All that was left of the railroad was the graded land, several bridges, and a handful of depot buildings.

The depot in Suttons Bay as it appeared in 1920…

…and repurposed as a law office today.

Meanwhile in Traverse City, the Traverse Area Recreational Trail had been built along an east/west rail corridor that ran through town. With the success of that route, the Leelanau Trails Association purchased the 17 mile Leelanau Scenic Railway corridor from Traverse City to Suttons Bay….and work began on what was to become the Leelanau Trail. Asphalt paving was completed in 2013, and the pathway was designated as part of U.S. Bicycle Route 35.

Where trains struggled to get through the snow in winter…

…cross country ski trail groomers now run in the cold weather.

Where the passenger cars used to make their way northward…

…we now find ourselves riding along their former route, 115 years after the railroad was built.

Pedaling the Leelanau Trail (seen above in red) has become one of our favorite pastimes. We started riding it in earnest last fall when we purchased our TerraTrikes. Several wineries are located a short distance from the trail, so there isn’t a shortage of places to visit. 🙂 The scenery along the route is amazing.

During the spring, the cherry blossoms carpet the hillsides.

Here is Diana photographing a bank full of Forget-Me-Nots.

These little beauties were the theme we chose for her mom’s funeral guest book; as a result, seeing these made this day pretty darn special. 🙂

We enjoy seeing this draft horse and donkey along the way…

…as well as this huge cow that keeps them company. 🙂

While many of the railroads of northern Michigan were not able to sustain their businesses, the efforts of the railroad workers are being reused through the development of these trails. We consider ourselves fortunate to be located so close to the Leelanau Trail this srummer, and we look forward to many more rides along this historical pathway before we leave this fall.

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On October 1, we decided to head back to Leelanau County and Wild Cherry Resort. Diana’s mom has stabilized from her recent pneumonia, so we felt safe in finishing out the season. Wild Cherry closes October 31.

On Friday, we met Diana’s cousin Reed and his wife Emily in Traverse City for lunch at Northern Natural Cider House. The two of them had come up from Kentucky to close up the family homestead in Luzerne, MI. When they arrived early Thursday, they received a huge shock, as Ma Deeter’s had just burned to the ground.

A classic example of an ‘up north’ bar, Deeter’s was known far and wide…probably more so than the town it resided in. It was thought to have been the largest log structure east of the Mississippi. The building had been there since 1940, and the building before it (also destroyed by fire) had been there since 1920.

Emily posted this photo on Facebook that morning of their iconic sign and the smoldering ruins. So sad.

On Saturday, we worked at Wild Cherry. I grabbed the chainsaw and decided to take down a few dead ash trees, as they were near the roadway. I was concerned that they could fall on someone. As I went back to the barn, I came upon this:

This was a very much alive top half of an Aspen tree that snapped off in the wind. Granted, it was very windy on Saturday, but I have to believe that this tree was weakend in the August 2nd storm.

It had snapped off a good 40 feet up the trunk. The pieces in the roadway were fairly thick, so I’m glad no one was under it when it fell!

On Saturday night, we went out to eat with Howard and Linda from RV-Dreams.

They are in town conducting their fall educational rally at Lake Leelanau RV Park. While we always knew we were most likely going to fulltime RV when we retired, these two were the ones that provided the ‘nudge’ when we attended a couple of their seminars at an RV show in Grand Rapids in January, 2014. We attended their rally last fall in Goshen, Indiana, and we were very excited to get the chance to see them again. They have a six week trip to Costa Rica planned (without their rig), so it was fun to hear about the preparations they were making for that adventure. They have been fulltime RVing since 2005, and they are extremely knowledgable about what it takes to live the lifestyle. We highly recommend attending one of their rallies, even if you are just an RV owner and aren’t going to full time in it. They provide a plethora of information on anything conceivable to do with an RV and the lifestyle.

On Sunday, we went to Suttons Bay Bikes and rented a TerraTrike for Diana to try out. We were dressed for a chilly ride, as the temperatures were in the low 50’s. We were just fine with a few layers.

We rode 7 miles on the 17 mile long Leelanau Trail. She liked it so much, she went back to the bike shop and bought it!

We then rode the trail 9 more miles. :). She is a very happy camper (biker)!

On our first ride, we saw this picnic table.

We stopped and had lunch there. They had water, a trash can, a log book, and a pot of flowers…which was a nice touch. I believe it was maintained by the people who lived adjacent to it. The Leelanau Trail is a rail trail between Suttons Bay and Traverse City, and is part of the TART trail system that covers the Traverse Bay Area.

When we got to Revold Road, we were just west of Black Star Farms and we saw this sign.

You know you are in Leelanau County when the rest stops are wineries instead of ice cream shops. 🙂

Diana had been thinking (dreaming, actually) about getting a TerraTrike for quite awhile. One thing I was concerned about was how we would haul it. Fellow full timers, Bill and Jodee from On The Road Abode have two TerraTrikes, and Jodee was kind enough to send me photos of their setup.

If we get a second trike, this would work well for us. Great rack from Hitch Rider. Thanks, Jodee!

When we brought Diana’s trike home, I came up with this:

The disc brakes lock, so there isn’t any movement. It won’t interfere with the trailer in this position. I’m going to get nylon straps to secure it, instead of the bungees. The seat fabric easily detaches for longer trips. My bike will continue to ride on our Yakima receiver mounted rack, which can be mounted on the trailer when we are moving, or on the truck when we are stationary at a campground.

So as you can see, we are excited to be able to spend October on the Leelanau Peninsula. Amazingly, the leaves have yet to change color, so we are hoping for some beautiful vistas fairly soon! Stay tuned!