75 Miles of Trail, 130 Residents: Who Keeps Copper Harbor’s Singletrack Rideable
This week, The Keweenaw Report and My UP News kicked off their Copper Shores Giving Tuesday Spotlight Series, and one of the first organizations featured is a name every mountain biker who’s been to the tip of the Keweenaw already knows: the Copper Harbor Trails Club. In the Nov. 6 spotlight, Executive Director Adam Yeoman talks about what it actually takes to keep one of the Midwest’s best-known trail systems in shape.
The Short Version: Big Trails, Small Town
The club looks after about 75 miles of non-motorized singletrack used for mountain biking, hiking and cross-country skiing, year-round. Upkeep runs roughly $1,000 to $1,100 per mile, according to the piece. Do the math across the whole system and you’re looking at well over $70,000 a year, just to keep what’s already built in good shape.
And here’s the part that surprises visitors: Copper Harbor has only about 130 residents. There simply aren’t enough locals to do it all by volunteer weekend, so the club relies on paid staff for most of the maintenance. Last year’s Giving Tuesday money went to the Keweenaw Point Trail Montreal project, which links Montreal Falls back to the trail corridor into Copper Harbor. This year, Yeoman says the goal is to “build up our maintenance budget.”
Why It Matters If You’re Visiting
A lot of our guests come up for these trails, even if they stay down the road. Trails like these don’t stay rideable on their own. Every tree that comes down in a windstorm and every corner that washes out in the spring melt is somebody’s work day. When you ride Copper Harbor for free, you’re riding on the back of that work.
It’s also not just a summer thing. The same trail network gets used for hiking in the shoulder seasons and skiing once the snow sticks, which is a good reason to think of the Keweenaw as a four-season trip rather than a one-weekend-in-July trip.
How to Pitch In
The club is one of nearly 70 Copper Country nonprofits in the Copper Shores Community Health Foundation’s Giving Tuesday campaign, which has raised more than $5.8 million since 2016, mostly from individual donors. Giving Tuesday falls on December 1 this year. If you can’t give money, the club holds work events throughout the year, and spring trail-clearing is the big one. That’s a great excuse to plan a May trip: help clear a trail in the morning, ride it in the afternoon.
The same spotlight series also featured the Keweenaw Outdoor Recreation Coalition, which works to keep historically open land in Keweenaw County accessible as timber and investment owners sell off parcels. Between the two, it’s a good reminder that the “wild” Keweenaw we all love has a lot of people quietly keeping it open.
Read the full spotlight at My UP News: Copper Shores Giving Tuesday Spotlight Series: Copper Harbor Trails Club. Campaign details are at coppershores.org/giving-tuesday.
Planning a ride or ski trip up the peninsula? Our Calumet and Chassell stays make an easy home base for Copper Harbor day trips. Book direct at vaultventures.co and skip the platform fees, or text Vern at 906-370-1670 with questions.