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 Drummond Island 47-mile off-road trail ready to rock

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The Devil Dog
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Drummond Island 47-mile off-road trail ready to rock Empty
PostSubject: Drummond Island 47-mile off-road trail ready to rock   Drummond Island 47-mile off-road trail ready to rock EmptySun May 17, 2009 10:24 am

Drummond Island 47-mile off-road trail ready to rock cheers
by Howard Meyerson | The Grand Rapids Press
Saturday May 16, 2009, 1:05 AM

Drummond Island 47-mile off-road trail ready to rock Medium10
Courtesy Photo | Mike Olmstead

Mike Olmstead, organizer of the Jeep Jamboree, helps to sign and mark the new off-road vehicle trail.A hodgepodge of rutted two-tracks and rocky forest roads on Drummond Island is being touted as Michigan's first really challenging off-road vehicle route by four-wheel drive buffs.

Members of the Great Lakes Four-Wheel Drive Association finished marking the 47-mile network of trails last weekend, and it is now open to the public.

"Our big thrill is that it is the first and only trail in the state that really caters to the Jeep, truck and SUV crowd, full size four-wheel drive vehicles," said Pat Brower, of Fruitport, the government affairs director for the organization.

"Because it is so rough and has so many obstacles, it's just what the four-wheel drive enthusiast looks for. We like to go slow and careful picking our way through boulder-strewn trails and negotiating mudholes."

Other state ORV routes tend to be two tracks and typical forest roads. None offer this type of challenge, according to Brower.

The route meanders through the rocky southeast end of the 133-square mile northern Lake Huron island, the location for the Jeep Jamboree, an annual event that draw 200 to 300 participants for a summer weekend of off-road driving. The 18th annual Jeep Jamboree is scheduled for June 19-20.


"We didn't really create a single new inch of trail," said Jamboree coordinator Mike Olmstead of Warren. "We just got it redesignated so it is now legal to take a Jeep or a Hummer or a pickup truck out there."

The legal status of the trails came into question two years ago after state conservation officers tried to step up enforcement of a 1994 Michigan law that makes clear the difference between a forest road which is open to the public and an ORV trail that requires a state ORV sticker.

It defines a "forest road" as one where you could drive "your grandma's Buick," Brower said. "Not many people know of the grandma's Buick provision. "

Grandma would need to turn back or risk a ticket if she insisted upon driving the Buick onto a trail suitable only for four-wheeled drive vehicles, Brower said.

The trail network on the island had always been rough. It got rougher as the years went by, rough enough that conservation officers saw it as a route needing a state off-road vehicle sticker, Brower said.

But the trail had never been designated as state ORV route, creating ambiguity for those enforcing the law.

"That has always been a gray area (on the island) and it needed clarification," Brower said.

State officials formed a work group to clarify and designate a route. Meetings were held with local residents and island business owners.

ORV tourism brings $1.5 million a year to the island, according to the Drummond Island Tourism Association. But island residents had mixed sentiments about boosting off-road activities.

"We have a lot of people who are not happy with it," said Rob Katona, DNR trails analyst for the Upper Peninsula. "A lot of people come up for the summer and would prefer to have the island be quiet and not a destination for this kind of recreation."

ORV trail stickers are required on the more difficult portions of the route. They are sold where hunting and fishing licenses are sold.

A sign system is being installed to indicate which route is which. The portion passable in Grandma's Buick will not need a sticker, according to Brower.
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