White Pine Trail State Park
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The White Pine Trail State Park is a 92-mile-long linear state park in the U.S. state of Michigan. The trail extends from northern Grand Rapids to Cadillac, and it lies on the path graded for the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad. The White Pine Trail is a rail trail park and may soon be renamed the "Fred Meijer White Pine Trail State Park" due to a donation by Fred Meijer.
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[edit] History
As the railroad ceased operation in the mid-1980s, the Michigan Department of Transportation came to own the rail bed. By 1994 the property was transferred to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, which began replacing the rails with a trail for public recreational use.
[edit] Current Condition
The trail extends from Ann Street in Grand Rapids north to Cadillac. The trail has three paved sections: one extending 13 miles between Comstock Park and Russell Road in Cedar Springs, another 13 miles stretch between Big Rapids and Reed City, and the northernmost mile in Cadillac is also paved. The Michigan DNR has plans to pave 7.6 miles of trail from Russel Road near Cedar Springs to Sand Lake during the spring of 2007.
Unpaved sections of the trail are surfaced with packed gravel or cinders.
Due to reduced public funding for state parks in Michigan, the trail's upkeep depends largely on volunteers.
[edit] Communities Along Trail
The trail passes through the following communities:
- Comstock Park, Michigan
- Belmont, Michigan
- Rockford, Michigan
- Cedar Springs, Michigan
- Sand Lake, Michigan
- Pierson, Michigan
- Howard City, Michigan
- Morley, Michigan
- Stanwood, Michigan
- Big Rapids, Michigan
- Paris, Michigan
- Reed City, Michigan
- Ashton, Michigan
- Le Roy, Michigan
- Tustin, Michigan
- Cadillac, Michigan
[edit] Future plans
According to the Friends of the White Pine Trail, there are plans to extend the paved areas of the trail. The trail may also be connected to other trail systems in the state, including the Kent Trails system in Grand Rapids, the Musketawa Trail, and the Pere-Marquette rail-trail in Reed City.
