Northern Michigan trails closed indefinitely after ice storm damage

It could take months to wash up the paths of Noord -Michigan after a critical ice storm brought on injury and led to a widespread indefinite closure of the path system.

The closure influences all paths managed by the State in a dozen provinces in Michigan, together with the japanese higher peninsula, According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

The closed paths are positioned in 12 provinces the place Gov. Gretchen Whitmer defined a catastrophe space: Alcona, Alpena, Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Crawford, Emmet, Mackinac, Montmorency, Oscoda, Otego and Presque Isle.

Lots of the states paths within the area have introduced down timber and excessive -voltage strains, making them impassable and unsafe.

“A whole lot of time can be wanted to evaluate and sort out affected areas,” stated Tim Novak, coordinator of the state paths for the DNR Parks and Recreation Division, in a press launch. “Many areas may also be affected by erosion and diving issues of the latest rains.”

First -responders and different companions work on assessing injury, repairing the present and the clear particles of the paths.

Extra: Northern Michigan State Parks closed after injury in ice storms

“The injury was in depth within the forests of the northern decrease peninsula, the place our leisure paths are discovered, and the clean-up effort will take weeks or months,” stated Paige Perry, DNR Recreation Trails specialist for the Northern Central Decrease Peninsula, within the launch. “Extra info can be launched as quickly as areas are erased and the paths are secure to make use of once more. Within the meantime, we ask that everybody is exploring the opposite lovely paths of Michigan till the tip of the mittens is reopened.”

The most recent closing info could be discovered on Michigan.gov/dnrclosures.