Trail update: Boyne City – Charlevoix Trail

Good progress is being made on the Boyne City to Charlevoix Trail, a non-motorized linear park which will run parallel to Boyne City Road and will connect the City of Boyne City with the Little Traverse Wheelway. The Boyne City to Charlevoix Trail will be a paved 10-foot wide, approximately 14-mile long trail, mostly detached from Boyne City Road, but within the road right-of-way.  The trail will be constructed in five phases (Map):

Phase 1, a 10-foot-wide paved non-motorized trail parallel to, but detached from Boyne City/Charlevoix Road, was completed in 2016. This phase begins at the Boyne City limits at W. Michigan Avenue, extends through Young State Park, and runs to the Evangeline/Bay Township line at Springwater Beach Road for a distance of 3.04 miles.

Phase 2 was completed in 2017 and begins at the Little Traverse Wheelway east of Waller Road in Charlevoix Township, crosses US-31 and runs south across a series of private easements to Boyne City/Charlevoix Road east of the Argonne Supper Club. The trail then runs parallel to, but separate from Boyne City/Charlevoix Road on the north side of the road to Quarterline Road for a distance of 2.97 miles.  At the point where the trail meets Boyne City/Charlevoix Road east of the Argonne Supper Club, a trail spur runs west within the right-of-way on the north side of the road to Eastern Avenue to create an access point for Pine Point Subdivision.

Phase 3 will begin at the Bay/Evangeline Township line (Springwater Beach Road) and will continue, detached from the road, through Bay Township on the Lake Charlevoix side of the road.  Just east of the Village of Horton Bay, the trail will connect to the (paved) wide shoulder of the road through the Village (speed limit: 35 mph).  The trail will utilize the shoulder of the road due to the proximity of homes to the road.  On the west side of Horton Bay (west of Horton Creek), the trail will become detached once again on the Lake Charlevoix side of the road and continue to Pincherry Road.  Phase 3 will be 2.83 miles in length.  As part of Phase 3, a trailhead is proposed to be developed at Park of the Pines, just north of Springwater Beach Road N.  Construction of Phase 3 of the trail and the trailhead is planned for 2019.

Phase 4 will begin at the completed Phase 2 of the trail at Quarterline Road in Hayes Township and continue detached within the right-of-way along Boyne City Road to Hayes Township Park (Camp Sea-Gull) on the east/north side of the road (the side opposite Lake Charlevoix).  The trail will cross Boyne City Road in the vicinity of Hayes Township Park, where there are plans to establish a trailhead in the future.  This phase will cover a distance of 2.8 miles.

Phase 5 will begin at the completed Phase 4 of the trail at Hayes Township Park (Camp Sea-Gull) and continue as a detached trail within the right-of-way along Boyne City Road on the south (Lake Charlevoix) side of the road to Pincherry Road in Bay Township, where it will connect to the end of Phase 3.  This phase will cover a distance of 2.7 miles.