Assessing Use and Users: On the Little Traverse Wheelway, the Northwest State Trail and the North Central State Trail

This project focused on the benefits of trails as an economic development tool. Trails are a useful and sustainable source of both tourism money and convenient transportation that does not rely on the automobile. To better understand how to enhance the qualities of trails in Northern Lower Michigan, the Department for Community Sustainability at Michigan State University partnered with numerous entities including the Top of Michigan Trails Association and Emmet County to prepare an assessment of trail use and users from Memorial Day weekend 2014 to Labor Day weekend 2014 on portions of the Little Traverse Wheelway in Emmet County and the multi-county North Central State Trail. The assessments provided observational data of trail use and users and responses from a sample of those users who are adults 18 or over to a self-administered questionnaire.