Up North Trails

Working together to market "Up North"

Northern Michigan is home to hundreds of miles of fantastic trails available to a variety of users north of the 44th parallel. Visitors can access hiking trails, biking trails, snowmobile trails, ski trails, horse trails, ORV trails, and water trails. Many visitors to northern Michigan have remarked that we have some of the best trails in the country. The challenge? More people need to hear about them!

Recently, a new collaboration of partners has formed which feels that we can accomplish more together than we can separately. We have a goal of collectively marketing all northern Michigan recreational assets from Lake Michigan to Lake Huron with an Up North identity so that the rest of the country knows what it really means to go "Up North".

Who's on board?

Our group consists of a broad coalition of partners including regional agencies, state agencies, local agencies, and trail user groups which all have the same goal in mind - making northern Michigan a nationally-known recreation destination. There is power in numbers, so we want to include as many partners as we can in order to accomplish our goal. Here is a list of partners that have attended meetings so far in the interest of collaborating to improve northern Michigan's economy through tourism marketing:

Northeast Michigan Council of Governments                              

Northwest Michigan Council of Governments                             

Eastern Upper Peninsula Planning & Development Commission       

Land Information Access Association                                           

Top of Michigan Trails Council                                                       

Michigan Department of Transportation

MSU Extension

Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Michigan State University Extension

Michigan Trails & Greenways Alliance                                         

Travel Michigan

Cheboygan County

US 23 Heritage Route

TART Trails                                                                         

North Country Trail Association 

Michigan Municipal League

Indian River Chamber of Commerce                                               

Michigan Trail Riders Association

Presque Isle County Development Commission                           

Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians

Mackinaw Area Chamber of Commerce                                         

Topinabee Development Assoc.

Village of Mackinaw City                                                                  

Emmet County

Corwith Township                                                                              

Burt Lake Trail Committee

City of Grayling                                                                       

Crawford County Trails Committee

Briley Township

Our plans...website first

Web-based marketing is the first obvious step to effectively make our region known throughout the country. LIAA, NEMCOG, and MDOT partnered last year to create a coastal tourism marketing website for the US 23 Heritage Route. The website provides visitors with detailed information on over 900 things to see and do along coastal northeast Michigan. Visitors can search based on their area of interest or geographical area. The site allows visitors to create their own itinerary and map to better plan their trip. The site has been very successful and has received over 7,400 visits from 77 different countries since September. The US 23 Heritage Route program has become a partner in the Pure Michigan campaign and has established a recognizable identity as the Sunrise Coast.

Our group intends to use that program structure as a model to create a northern Michigan identity and an interactive mapping website which contains detailed information on all types of trail systems in northern Michigan as well as information about the things to do and see and services available around the trail systems. We are planning a tourism-based trails website that is unlike anything that northern Michigan currently has to offer. This website will be a one-stop shop for all types of trail systems where users can access pre-made maps, helmet camera videos, trail information such as segment length, difficulty, surface, and condition, and nearby points of interest and services. In addition, the website will contain an interactive mapping component which will allow users to design their own maps based on the desired trail type and points of interest that they choose. Also, private businesses (i.e. restaurants, lodging, etc) will appear on the site as they do on the US 23 site. The regional councils of governments are committed to providing staff support to keep the site updated in order to provide the most current information to potential visitors. This website will use a centralized database that is also used for the US 23 site so that information across northern Michigan only has to be updated in a central location.

Future Promotions...

• Printed materials such as guidebooks, brochures, and maps.
• Smartphone apps
• Regional participation in the Pure Michigan campaign
• Widespread media campaign

Trail Town Economic Development Strategy

We intend to provide a blueprint for how local leaders can utilize their trail systems to develop and support new opportunities for tourism and economic development.