The State Line Trail is a

hiking 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. The ...

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 ...

. Michigan's longest trail as of 2020, it creates a non-highway right-of-way through the western third of the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...

. The trail uses a section of the former roadbed of the

Chicago and North Western Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...

. Proceeding from west to east, the trail departs

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

, at a point adjacent to

U.S. Route 2 U.S. Route 2 or U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is an east–west United States Numbered Highways, U.S. Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected by various roadways in southern ...

. After passing through

Gogebic County Gogebic County ( ) is the westernmost county in the Upper Peninsula in the U.S. state of Michigan, and the westernmost in the state as a whole. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 14,380. The county seat is Bessemer. This was historical ...

from west to east, the trail enters Iron County. At the trail's eastern end, the unincorporated community of Stager in Iron County, the trail serves thickly wooded land parcels within the Copper Country State Forest. The State Line Trail uses more than 50 bridges to cross the humid, temperate forested lands of the western Upper Peninsula. The state of Michigan describes the tree life of the trail's right-of-way as being dominated by

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the '' Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (Chin ...

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

, and hemlock. A state of Michigan description recommends the State Line Trail for use by bikers, hikers, horseback riders, and snowmobilers. Bicyclists should be aware of trail conditions. The relatively unimproved roadbed of the Trail is not currently recommended for

road bicycles The term road bicycle is used to describe bicycles built for traveling at speed on paved roads. Some sources use the term to mean racing bicycle. Other sources specifically exclude racing bicycles from the definition, using the term to mean a ...

. The state of Michigan calls the State Line Trail "Michigan's longest and reddest rail-trail," because it crosses over and utilizes a rocky roadbed that was historically rich in red

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

. The trail is named in honor of the Michigan–Wisconsin state boundary line, which the trail closely follows.

Legacy

The State Line Trail is a lengthy, repurposed stretch of railroad right-of-way once used by the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

-based Chicago and Northwestern Railway (C&NW). At the time when standard

time zone A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, Commerce, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between Country, countries and their Administrative division, subdivisions instead of ...

s were being drawn throughout the United States, railroad corporations and their schedules played a key role in determining which locations were assigned to different time zones. After many changes to time zone boundary lines, almost all of Michigan was assigned to the

Eastern Time Zone The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...

. However, four counties in the Upper Peninsula, historically, got much of their railroad service from the C&NW. These four counties, which include Gogebic County and Iron County, had developed a longtime attachment to the Chicago-oriented

Central Time Zone The North American Central Time Zone (CT) is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, some Caribbean Islands, and part of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Central Standard Time (CST) is six hours behind Coordinate ...

. At these counties' request, they continue in that time zone today. The State Line Trail is in the Central Time Zone in its entirety.

References

{{reflist Chicago and North Western Railway Protected areas of Gogebic County, Michigan Protected areas of Iron County, Michigan