Settlers Park: Work begins on the chapter's 12th trail! Settlers Park is a 100 acre park located in Hartland Township. The master plan for Settlers Park from 2015 called for a three phase mountain bike trail. This was done in conjunction with CRAMBA and local resident Matt Mascot However, due to the geographical isolation of this trail from other CRAMBA trails, it was difficult to make headway in building the trail there. In 2017, a local Hartland High School student, Elliot Klein, contacted the township and volunteered to take the reins of the project. Simultaneously, the township manager contacted an MCMBA member, Tom Hermann. Tom contacted CRAMBA and they graciously agreed to let the MCMBA continue the project. An MOU was signed between the MCMBA to build in the west edge of the park and Elliot Klein and Tom Hermann were named trail coordinators. Construction began last fall with the help of Bill Hermann who has lent guidance to the project. The intention is to have the first trail be a beginner friendly loop of about 2 miles with some technical options. There is not a great deal of elevation on this first loop but there are very nice views, well draining soil and quite a few interesting features. The hope is to gain permission to build two more loops in the park that will be interconnected with short two-way sections. The other parts of the park have very promising terrain for trail building. The land manager is himself a mountain biker and has been very supportive of the project. The loops themselves will likely be named with the family names of "settlers" of this property in keeping with the Settlers Park theme. The park already has a mile long bike path that connects it to the Hartland Meijer, the township hall and the High School. It has a newly completed pavilion with bathrooms as well as a planned playground. The park is very busy with walkers, nature lovers and cyclists and what we have already built this winter has been adopted by local walkers and bikers. As such our trail is planned as a multi-use biking/walking trail. Currently we are focusing on building the nicest trail we can in order to have the park be more amenable to giving permission to build more in the future. In the process of building we found quite a bit of ready made trail already existing. Come to find out this was the work of Matt Mascot under CRAMBA's guidance. Matt found Elliot working out there one day, and was excited to see the project get new life. He has since joined Elliot and Tom in building and designing the trail. Once the trail corridor has been cleared of deadfall and the trail roughly built (70% there), the plan is to have a trail day in which volunteers spend a few hours putting the finishing touches on the trail and then enjoy the fruits of their labor by riding it.
Stay tuned with the chapter for updates and announcements on how you can help! |
