Trails are some of Marquette’s most popular recreational features, for both residents and tourists alike. After all, they combine a fun yet challenging recreational opportunity for people in a scenic, four-season setting (weather permitting, of course, although hard-core outdoors enthusiasts still venture out in polar vortex-type conditions).

And there are plenty of local trails on which to travel. There are the city of Marquette’s multi-use trail, which winds in part along the Lake Superior shoreline; the Iron Ore Heritage Trail, which has a historic aspect to it; and the North Country Scenic Trail, which travels through many wilderness areas.

The Noquemanon Trail Network is an extensive system of trails that run through some of the most beautiful areas in the Marquette area. Its South Trails system, for example, is composed of 40 miles of singletrack trails, with the trailhead located just north of the Marquette Mountain ski area.

The trailhead, located in the city of Marquette’s Heartwood forest area, is a good starting point for exploring the South Trails. It’s also easy to find, being located just off M-553 near Division Street.

However, as good a starting point as the trailhead is, it could be better.

Volunteers for the NTN have raised $50,000 for the new Heartwood Trailhead pavilion, which includes future maintenance and improvements costs.

This picnic shelter-type structure will provide a welcoming place for trail users to socialize and get out of inclement weather. It also will include semi-enclosed changing rooms so people don’t have to change from their street clothes to their trail clothes in their cars or in the woods.

The pavilion won’t be the only new improvement. The parking lot also will be reconfigured to be more orderly in design and allow 75 to 80 vehicles.

The project is expected to be mostly completed by later this month or early November. That’s good news for people who want to use the South Trails when the weather starts to change and temperatures drop.

It’ll still be good news when the weather warms in spring because folks also will have a place to get out of the rain should they choose to do so.

NTN users – and trail enthusiasts in general – typically have a low impact on a natural area, whether they be hikers, mountain bikers or cross-country skiers. The new Heartwood pavilion is a complementary, low-impact facility that will be a modest, yet attractive and needed addition to this NTN trailhead, making it easier for trail users to enjoy the area.