State to groom 47-mile trail off Murphy Dome Road

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State to groom 47-mile trail off Murphy Dome Road

#1 Post by john »


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#2 Post by john »

Humm, what a bummer

"Because of concerns of local property owners, the Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation decided against grooming a new 47 mile trail off the end of Murphy Dome Road."

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#3 Post by YamahaMountain »

That is one of the problems in Michigan and why trails are changing almost every other year. The local property owners decide they don't want the trails to go through or by their property so they have to make new trails ever couple of years.
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#4 Post by john »

This one makes ya wonder, they brought up the idea because
Property owners in the area approached state parks about grooming the trail and the agency put in for a state grant to get money to do it, Ludwig said. The Northern district of the state parks system was awarded $30,000 from the Snowmobile Trail Grant and Grooming Pool, which is generated by snowmachine registration funds..
So now there canceling the project for the same reason :?: Now if they applied for a grant to groom a specific trail or trails then shouldn't they groom "those" or the funds go back.

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#5 Post by Alaskaman100 »

The problem here runs deeper than can be easily explored in this forum. There are only a handfull of yearlong residents in that valley. They have divided themselves into two camps, one centered around trapping and the other centered around tourism. As you might imagine, the trappers don't want alot of people running the trails and around the valley. Most of the other landowners (including me) have recreational cabins and they like the groomed trails but are wary of too much access because of past problems with vandalism and thefts. The tourism operator wanted to groom the trails and the trapper opposed.

The other problem is that these trails are still relatively crude and frankly a little dangerous for the unwary or ill-prepared. The trail on top of the dome drifts and is not marked except as private individuals may do. The trails are narrow and you will sometimes run into someone coming down with a load of lumber who can't stop. The river is prone to overflow north of the dome.

This is a complex issue. The maps of the trails can be found here: http://www.1stalaskaoutdoorschool.com/MAP_2.htm and http://www.1stalaskaoutdoorschool.com/MAP_3.htm

If you are looking for a nice loop trip into that area, you can park at Murphy Dome, head north down 7-mile trail to the river, head downstream (West) down the river to the lower landing, and then take the road back to the dome. Round trip is 30 miles, bring enough gear to handle overflow and breakdowns.

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#6 Post by john »

I can understand the issues with the trapper's/tourism/and miners and their conflicts, we've run into this one before. A common ground for sharing the trails is usually workable, at least for those that care to work it out, some folks just don't.

The quality and condition of the trails really isn't a problem, one of the reasons we rate the rides from Family to Advanced. A lot of our members/riders actually prefer the more adventurous runs, myself included :D

Narrow trails, rough, 2-way traffic issues, sounds like a normal trip to me :) We aren't what you'd call Groomed Trail Only Riders. Have ridden around the Murphy Dome area and enjoyed it, even when I got lost on the trails, GPS sure comes in handy at those moments.

Thanks for the input and consideration, I can think of a couple of us that might just make the loop run to check it out.

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#7 Post by Alaskaman100 »

You bet - i'd be happy to assist. I think on another site i provided links to maps of the area trails. I realized my initial mileage was off by 7 miles. The loop i described included the 7 mile trail which is (surprise) 7 miles long. The total loop is 37 miles. The river is usually runnable (at least on shelf ice) by the first weekend in November.

As for the land use conflict, and conflict in general, nobody lives that far out of town because they are blessed with social and conflict resolution skills.

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#8 Post by john »

Alaskaman100 wrote:As for the land use conflict, and conflict in general, nobody lives that far out of town because they are blessed with social and conflict resolution skills.
:rofl:

Maybe we can go over it at the Oct membership meeting and review the map.

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#9 Post by paulneva »

John,

Since Alaskaman would be "happy to assist," this could easily fill one of the holes (17 Nov or 29 Dec) in the draft "Rides Calender."

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#10 Post by john »

If Alaskaman is will to help out, that's be great. Maps pretty good to.

OK, It's on for the 29th Dec, temps permitting :) I'll be updating the calendar, final version, Tuesday after I get confirmation on the swap meet location/time.

Only 2 things left

:needsnow: so I can :sledwave:

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#11 Post by Alaskaman100 »

I am happy to help - but I would also coordinate with Ralf at 1st Alaska. He lives down there and runs those trails daily. He also has a place big enough to hold a pretty big group for a warm-up. He should be back on the river by Mid - September. I don't know how many you have in a ride.

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#12 Post by john »

Thanks AKman, I'll get a hold of Ralf after I know we have a confirmed ride.

Number of folks vary, anywhere from 5 to 20 and up. Really depends on the season and snow conditions.

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