It's been four years in the works, but the proposed Antrim County Glacial Hills Natural Area is set to become a reality. It brings together a couple of public land parcels tied together with the acquisition of an old family farm to create a contiguous 763-acre parcel that will be called Glacial Hills Natural Area.
Gene Dawson, Antrim County commissioner, and Terry Smith, Forrest Home Township supervisor, both who have been involved with the project from the start, were showing me around some of the property recently. It will make a magnificent new natural area. Trails for hiking, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, and mountain biking are being planned, and it will be open for hunting.
"Many Antrim County residents have gotten their first buck in those hills," said Smith. "Hunting will be a popular fall pursuit in there, but the overall recreational value of that land is priceless. It will provide future generations of area residents a place to enjoy and recreate. It's land that if it weren't preserved would likely end up in development and be gone for public use."
The county had a little over 350 acres just north of Bellaire, but it wasn't contiguous. It was in three separate parcels. The Sevald farm, between the public land parcels, was for sale, and the family was interested in seeing that 400-some acres of the farm be preserved for public use.
The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy, which has been involved in some significant land preservation deals in the last few years, became the catalyst that was able to bring the family, the county, the township, DNR Natural Trust Fund dollars and public contributions together. The funding portion is done, and the acquisition is supposed to take place in the near future.
"We hope to be putting a committee together of interested parties to start mapping out some trails this winter and start construction on them next summer," said Smith.
"We welcome public input, and they can contact either of us if they have some suggestions," added Dawson. "We have a lot of decisions to make in regards to public use. This property will support a number of outdoor activities."
There are about nine miles of old multi-use, year-round trails and two-tracks currently on the property, according to Conservancy Land Protection Specialist Todd Vigland.
"The property is woodsy and rugged," said Vigland. "It's a great topography that will allow for trails in close proximity, but with the hills and deep ravines you will never see other users. We hope to develop multiple trailheads around the property so you can enter it from a number of different locations."
Presently none of the old trails are marked, but you can drive through some of the property by driving north on Orchard Hill Road to Hemstreet, take a left, and in a short distance another left on Vandermark, a dirt road. That takes you through the heart of the tall, wooded hills. It's a scenic drive. You come out on Bellaire Highway.
Follow the highway west for a short distance, take a right on Eckhardt Road and that takes you around the western end of the property. The eastern end of the property is well east of Orchard Hills Road.
While the four of us made a circuit of the property we got out and hiked in a short distance at a couple of locations. The first place was along Vandermark in hills where ORVs had diced up some hills with hill climbing ruts. Disregarding the ruts, once you got up on top of the hill it was a beautiful view looking out over endless forested hills. At the time the fall colors were magnificent, but that was a couple of weeks ago.
The second stop was off Eckhardt. We hiked up into some low hills to an overlook of the north end of Bellaire Lake and surrounding countryside. Again, it was a beautiful view, much more panoramic than the first stop.
"There are probably about four or five good overlooks that I can think of scattered around the property," said Smith as we hike back from the second stop, "But, there aren't any direct trails to them. They require a little bit of up and down hiking."
This property has a lot of recreational and hunting potential, and it will be fun to use year-round. They hope to develop a series of loop trails that will allow users to choose between different difficulty levels and various mileages. The trails will eventually be signed with maps and mileages posted at intersections. The outside loop will potentially be around nine miles in length, according to Vigland.
Eventually they hope to tie in a couple of pathway routes from the village of Bellaire up into the Glacial Hills Preserve, according to the two local officials.
Kudos to all the partners that helped put together Glacial Hills. This trail system will be a boon to Bellaire especially, but also to the whole region. Once developed, it should bring a lot of trail users into the area. It will anchor the east end of the Grand Traverse region with the VASA Trail system in the middle and the newly developed Arcadia Bluffs trail systems on the west end.
Visitors to our area will take days to explore these wonderful trail systems, but the rest of us can take our time. It just helps support the claim that this region of northwest Michigan is rapidly becoming a Midwest "silent sports mecca."
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