Our History
How a handful of determined trail advocates built the connected system Northern Michigan rides today.
Beginning in early 1994 and into the spring of 1995, Horace “Huffy” Huffman and Tom Bailey (both of the Little Traverse Conservancy) discussed between themselves — and later with other like-minded individuals — the concept and need for a vehicle to coordinate and bring together numerous trail user groups in Emmet, Charlevoix, and Cheboygan counties.
Huffman and Bailey recognized a lack of overall coordination, direction, and planning of recreational trail activity in Northern Lower Michigan to meet the demands of an expanding population and the rapid growth of tourism to the area.
Prior to the advent of TOMTC, the Little Traverse Wheelway Committee — an offshoot of the Little Traverse Kiwanis Club, led by Fred Fettis and Max Putters — had been working since 1976 to re-establish the trail around Little Traverse Bay that existed prior to the turn of the century (1890–1910) and linked Petoskey with Harbor Springs. The Char-Em Trail Committee (on which Fettis, Brad Leech, and Dr. Dwayne Griffin served) was similarly working to get a recreational trail from Petoskey to Charlevoix.
The Fettis-Putters group succeeded in extending the trail eastward from Charlevoix Avenue along the shore to Magnus Park and through Bay Front Park, ending on the salmon-colored sidewalk through Bay View to Division Street. The Char-Em Committee worked with property associations and landowners to obtain easements for the western end — and made an important breakthrough by securing a $500,000 state commitment toward construction, contingent on obtaining right-of-way easements. This led in part to the 5.5-mile trail adjacent to what is now Bay Harbor.
In 1991, Fred Fettis began getting the Harbor Springs Kiwanis Club interested in forming a trail committee. Ray Kuczwara enticed Neal McCue to join him and Ceci Bauer in establishing a Harbor Springs Trailway Committee. Together they planned a 1.5-mile trail paralleling M-119 from Beach Road past Petoskey State Park to the railroad crossing at what is now Spring Lake Park — timed to take advantage of an MDOT project to widen and straighten M-119.
Working with MDOT and the Emmet County Road Commission, the group raised the required $28,000 local match for an ISTEA grant — exceeding it by about $5,000, aided considerably by the Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation, which acted as the tax-exempt recipient for donations. That excess match money ultimately ended up in TOMTC’s coffers at a time when it was sorely needed.
All of this early work set the stage for the Trails Council’s entry on the scene to establish and coordinate a regional trail system. The network now spans over 300 miles of trails, stretching from Charlevoix to Alpena and from Lake Michigan to Lake Huron — and it’s continually growing, thanks to the advocacy of the Trails Council and its partners.
Our goal is to make Northern Michigan a destination for trail users from far and wide. We make trails happen!
