The Pere Marquette State Trail is a

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

and multi-use

trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. Th ...

in lower

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, running through

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

, and

Osceola Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Asi-yahola in Muscogee language, Creek), named Billy Powell at birth in Alabama, became an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfather was a S ...

Counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

. Intersecting with the White Pine Trail in Reed City, the trail is paved in areas, with a ballast or cinder surface elsewhere. The trail's western terminus is the Village of Baldwin with the City of Clare as its eastern terminus. From Baldwin east to The Pere Marquette State Trail is open to non-motorized uses. Except for a gap at its eastern end as the trail enters the City of

, it is developed on a former railroad bed. From the City of Clare southeast to Midland, the trail continues as the Pere Marquette Rail Trail.

Historical background

The

Pere Marquette Railway The Pere Marquette Railway operated in the Great Lakes region of the United States and southern parts of Ontario in Canada. It had trackage in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and the Canadian province of Ontario. Its primary connections in ...

ran trains along the route, west past Baldwin to Ludington and east to Saginaw. At Saginaw the trains were timed to meet with separate Bay City-originating trains to Detroit. The PM's successor, the

Chesapeake and Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond t ...

ended the Ludington to Saginaw trains in the latter months of 1949.

Location

References

{{MichiganTrails Protected areas of Clare County, Michigan Hiking trails in Michigan Bike paths in Michigan Rail trails in Michigan Protected areas of Lake County, Michigan Protected areas of Osceola County, Michigan Transportation in Clare County, Michigan Transportation in Lake County, Michigan Transportation in Osceola County, Michigan