Julie, WT8J, the Michigan Parks on the Air Map Rep, just dropped some exciting news on me. She writes:
We’ve added Iron Belle State Trail to Parks On The Air bringing activation opportunities much closer to urban centers in Southeast Michigan and beyond. According to Michigan.gov, “The Iron Belle Trail is the longest state-designated trail in the U.S., spanning over 2,000 miles from the western Upper Peninsula to Belle Isle in Detroit. The trail is currently more than 70% complete and connects over half of Michigan’s counties.” The Trail’s POTA designator is US-13184.
The Iron Belle Trail is the longest state-designated trail in the U.S., spanning over 2,000 miles from the western Upper Peninsula to Belle Isle in Detroit.
This unique trail features two distinct routes: a biking route and a hiking route. The biking route travels along the eastern side of the state, using existing bike paths, lanes, and designated routes. Meanwhile, the hiking route follows the western side of the Lower Peninsula, incorporating sidewalks, trails and a significant portion of the North Country National Scenic Trail.”
The Iron Belle overlaps with several existing municipal trails, such as the Border to Border here in Washtenaw, the Downriver Linked Greenways, and the Detroit Riverwalk.
The trail also traverses many downtown city parks, including Riverside in Flint, Ojibway Island in Saginaw, and Defoe in Bay City. Additionally, it passes through several parks in Ann Arbor, such as Gallup, Fuller, and Bandemer. This means these municipal parks are now valid locations for Parks On The Air activations, provided you are within 100 feet of the trail.
Headed west out of Washtenaw, through downtown Jackson it picks up the MLK Equality Walk and continues down the Falling Waters Trail to Concord. Here starts the patchwork of proposed and complete pathways until it hits the Calhoun County Trailway that takes it right through the heart of Battle Creek.
All this and that’s just a portion of this Parks On The Air reference. I think that eventually this will be the most activated reference in Michigan! 2-meter pedestrian portable activations are now entirely possible in several communities. And I just think that’s neat.
The Belle Iron Trail passes through Ann Arbor less than a mile from my house.
As a reminder, the activation rules include that you must be on public land and within 100’ of the trail. Good operator etiquette is a smaller footprint in urban areas for any portable station.
73 & POTA ON!
Julie WT8J
Michigan Parks On The Air Map Rep
This is really exciting for me as I live less than a mile from the Iron Belle State Trail. (On the map at right, I live very close to the left edge of the map.) If I was really ambitious, I could even hike over to Bandemer Park and activate there.
I’d be over there right now, if the weather was a little more accommodating today. Unfortunately, it’s overcast and 45°F, and while I hate to admit it, I’m pretty much a fair-weather POTA op. Be listening for me this summer, though, from US-13184.
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