Work on the new Kettles Trail has been completed for this year. We have a few more things to add in 2020 – an interpretive overlook at the bog, and an interpretive sign and bench at the end of the Accessible portion of the trail.
The trailhead is located on Baatz Road near Fritz Road, and you are invited to stop by and hike this new addition to the portfolio of hiking trails at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore! A map of trailhead location, trail map, and other info about the trail is available on the Kettles Trail page.
Planning and construction of this new 3-mile long hiking trail was a joint effort between Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore management and staff, Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes, YouthWork youth corps, SEEDS youth corps, and many volunteers! This year we had a volunteer work day in early June to finish the parking lot and work on the accessible portion of the trail.
Volunteers plant grass seed around the new parking lot.
A YouthWork crew worked alongside the NPS crew for the entire month of August. They improved the accessible portion of trail and built the bench-cut trail on the north end of the trail loop, which travels along a steep hillside with a bog way down below. They had to remove 9 huge stumps (by hand) to create this portion of the trail!
YouthWork had a crew of 3 team leaders and 7 different members that participated in the Kettles Trail project. All of them learned a lot about trail design and really worked hard. Those 7 members logged hours towards educational awards, which in total amounted to $10,000 in scholarships. The YouthWork program is affiliated with AmeriCorps and we are happy to be able to support this important program.
Some of the YouthWork crew
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