Fall colors dot Sugarloaf Mountain, as viewed from Lake Superior. (Photos courtesy of the Marquette County Planning, Community Development, Forestry, and Recreation Division.)

By CECILIA BROWN

Journal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — Sugarloaf Mountain — a popular scenic overlook and hiking area located along Marquette County Road 550 in Marquette Township — will have a picnic area and other new features installed by the end of 2019.

A Michigan Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund grant agreement for the improvements was approved Tuesday by the Marquette County Board of Commissioners.

“Ideally, we could start construction on some of the aspects of this project in 2018,” said Lauren Luce, senior planner at the Marquette County Planning Department. “If that’s not feasible with weather, as soon as weather permits in the spring.”

The grant, which includes $45,000 from the DNR and a $15,000 match from the county, will fund multiple projects at Sugarloaf, including interpretive trail signs, a picnic area with an access path, a solar-powered waste collection and compaction system, bicycle racks and more.

“We’re very excited and I think it’s a step forward for Sugarloaf, while still keeping it a natural area,” Luce said, noting they hope the project will “enhance everyone’s experience there.”

Luce said they are currently in the early design phases of the project, as the grant was received recently, but they envision creating the picnic area in an open grassy location south of the parking lot, or, if feasible, they may make use of the natural landscape to place tables near trees to create a spot with shade.

The area will also have a “smart” waste and recycling system, a solar-powered trash compacting unit that can hold five times the amount a typical unit would. It also has features that prevent animals from accessing it, as well as a system that remotely alerts staff when the unit is full.

Accessibility improvements are also a part of multiple projects covered by the grant.

“We’ll have an access pathway (to the picnic table), that way you could reach picnic tables and the trash can. They will all be universally accessible,” Luce said.

Another accessibility-related project is a webcam that will be installed on the observation decks at the summit of Sugarloaf Mountain, 470 feet above Lake Superior.

The goal of the webcam, officials said, is to increase accessibility by giving people an opportunity to enjoy the scenic views atop Sugarloaf Mountain remotely.

“The idea with the webcam, it helps kind of the universal accessibility aspect of Sugarloaf,” Luce said. “With the stairs, not everyone is able to reach the summit; with a webcam, anyone could enjoy the view at any given time.”

Commissioner Karen Alholm noted her support for the webcam project, saying: “The webcam will open this up to people who can’t, perhaps, climb the mountain or are a distance away.”

Commissioners asked Marquette County Manager of Planning Eric Anderson if the webcam installed would be fixed or moveable.

“The details have to be worked out yet,” Anderson said, noting that they are still looking into the logistics of the webcam’s placement.

Grant funding will also be used to place interpretive signs along the 3,200-foot trail that leads to the summit of Sugarloaf, Luce and Anderson said.

“We’re excited about the signage,” Luce said. “We plan to cover a myriad of topics. We think it’ll be really fun.”

Many of the features that will be implemented at Sugarloaf are items that the community has suggested in recreation surveys.

“Some of these things have been requested over time, so that’s a major thing,” Luce said. “We’ve done some recreation surveys; it’s shown people requested waste systems at Sugarloaf, along with signage.”

Commissioners noted their support for the project at the meeting.

“I’d like to note that this is really a nice project,” Alholm said, with Marquette County Board Chairman Gerald Corkin thanking Anderson and the planning department for their work.

Anderson said he was also excited about the project, “especially because Sugarloaf is such an iconic location in the Marquette area.”

Cecilia Brown can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is cbrown@miningjournal.net.