Author: Dave Foley
With funding from the Cadillac Rotary Club and the Cadillac Visitors’ Bureau, 5.4 miles of new multi-purpose trail is now available. Once DNR permits were secured, a mini-excavator began cutting a 3-foot wide path beginning at the trailhead of the Cadillac Pathway near Seeley Road.
Scott Dunham, a local cycling enthusiast and Northern Michigan Mountain Bike Association (NMMBA) volunteer, designed the trail with an eye to maximizing “flow” which takes riders on a curving path with few sharp turns that require braking and creating a route that traverses rather than climbs hills. The trail was laid out to make it less likely to have problems with erosion.
With a need to see it for myself, I rode the trail recently. As I pedaled away from the parking lot off Seeley Road, I was immediately aware of how flat the surface was. The mini-excavator had scraped the surface down to dirt and volunteers with clippers and saws had removed most of the tree roots sticking up. The trail curved through the woods in a series of “S” turns, slowly ascending and descending hills. There would be no gut busting climbs or white knuckle downhills on this route.
The new trail will be open year round. In the summer time it will be for all users (hiking, trail running and mountain biking). Once the snow comes it will be dedicated to fat bikes and snowshoes only. A team of volunteers headed up by Scott Dunham will groom this trail to be a smooth 3 foot wide path. The team grooms the trail every day and more or less depending on mother nature. While these trails may look suitable for walkers in shoes or boots, they are NOT. NMMBA will developing some groomed walking loops, watch for future updates.
To protect the groomed snow, fatbikers are asked to use tires at least 3.8 inches wide or wider and to adjust pressure based on conditions. When soft you should run 2-4 psi when base is hard you can run higher. The key is to look at your tire imprint. If your tires is leaving a rut then you need to run lower tire pressure.
While the new section of the Winter Sports Trail (WST) on the east side of Seeley Rd is permanent, the 6 miles of WST bike trail on the west side of Seeley Rd is seasonal, following the same route that the WST used last year. This route is single-track, a narrower path that is more technical, with more hills to navigate. Because it is a seasonal trail, it is only open from December 1 – April 1.
XC skiers have 11 miles of loops ranging from a 3-mile circuit to a full 11-mile loop. The XC ski trails are the same as other years but the terrain will look different on the west end of the Cadillac Pathway. Logging operations during last spring have thinned the forest providing more open areas. On windy days, snow may be blown across parts of the groomed sections. The XC trail will be groomed reguarly on Friday and Monday and more on an as needed basis.
Visitors to the Cadillac Pathway are encouraged to use the trailhead east of Cadillac on Seeley Road just north of Boon Road. In 2019 more parking was added and the pavilion was completed. With tables and a fireplace (bring your own firewood) it’s a great gathering point after an excursion on the trails. It’s free to the public and has a pit toilet. To park there, users are required to have a Recreational Passport.
As you might guess, maintaining trails requires expenditures for gas, snowmobile maintenance, insurance, snowmobile permits, DNR permits and signage. To offset these charges users of the Cadillac XC and bike trails are encouraged to purchase an annual $50 grooming badge at McLains Cycle and Fitness Bike Shop or at www.cadillacpathway.org. The grooming badges are a project of the Northern Michigan Mountain Bike Association. With a grooming badge, the user can have access to bike trails at VASA Single Track in Traverse City, Glacial Hills in Bellaire and Bike Leelanau in Leelanau.
To get an update on grooming, check on trail conditions, or activities at the Pathway, look to www.cadillacpathway.org or check out the Cadillac Pathway pages on Facebook or Instagram.