Trail Talk

The only thing you can be sure of in life – beyond death and taxes – is that the amount of undeveloped land in the world, places without the heavy footprint of man, will never increase.

Jim DuFresne

It will only shrink.

As our population grows and our needs for fuel, food and housing increases, natural areas, whether they are small wetlands or vast wildernesses, will always be under the threat of urbanization and mineral exaction.

Death, taxes and development.

I’m not out to single-handedly save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil companies or the panda bear from extinction. My goals have never been that lofty. All I want is a place to escape the cellphones, Facebooks and 24-hour news cycles of my world. I just want to leave the city I live in, however briefly, to see nothing that man has made and to hear only what nature intended.

In that regard, Oakland County Parks, with help from the Michigan Trust Fund and the North Oakland Headwaters Conservancy, gave me a wonderful Christmas gift this year when it purchased Upper Bushman Lake.

I live in an area of Oakland County that is anchored by Clarkston and split by I-75. It’s a land of strip malls and subdivisions and is crowned by DTE Music Theater, the country’s largest outdoor music venue that provides nightly traffic jams throughout the summer.

Yet only a couple of miles away is Upper Bushman Lake. The 31-acre, spring-fed lake is more like a chain of three lakes and forms the headwaters of the Clinton River. The lake is surrounded by wetlands, including a rare prairie fen and a southern wet meadow, and a hardwood conifer forest, one of only 30 in the state and the most southerly.

 The lake and the surrounding 186 acres the county purchased are also ideally located adjacent to Independence Oaks, the largest Oakland County park. But the most amazing thing about Upper Bushman is that fact that the entire lake was owned by a single family who cherished its natural beauty and never allowed it to be developed.

The north end of Upper Bushman Lake.

Dan Stencil, executive director of Oakland County Parks, calls it “literally an upnorth experience right in our backyard.”

Just 2 miles from where parrotheads gather for Jimmy Buffet concerts every summer is now a county park that spans 1,274 acres, including several lakes and 4 miles of the headwaters of the Clinton River. It’s a county park that is larger than two-thirds of all state parks and while a portion of Independence Oaks is developed with picnic areas, shelters, a beach and a nature center, the vast majority is not other than trails.

That is the plan for the new section, referred to as Independence Oaks-North. It will open to the public this April after a small gravel parking lot is placed along Sashabaw Road just north of the park’s main entrance and a trail and boardwalk is built to connect it to Upper Bushman Lake.

 After that amenities in the area will be minimal and activities will be restricted to what has been termed “passive outdoor recreation;” hiking, canoeing, birding, fishing, snowshoeing. No cars in the area, no outdoor motors on the lake, no family reunions along the shoreline.

Simply an undeveloped tract where you can escape.

The cost of such place in today’s world was $2.8 million, split by the county, the conservancy and the trust fund.  Many will argue that in these difficult times the money is better spent on the needs of society. And, lord knows, Oakland County and Michigan has more than their share of budget deficits, under funded schools, laid-off workers and potholes.

But natural areas, if not protected, rarely stay natural and once developed can never be wild again. Where would we escape to then?

 For information on trails, facilities and location of Independence Oaks County Park go to www.michigantrailmaps.com.

I like to put one boot in front of the other in the sand dune country of Michigan, the mountains of New Zealand or the great wilderness areas of Alaska, following a path away from the chaotic noise of civilization and into the slower and quieter pace of the natural world. 

I like to hike whether it’s for only 30 minutes on an interpretive path or two weeks across Isle Royale National Park. I like to hike because it cleanses the mind, refreshes the soul and –  literally – strengthens the heart. 

I like to hike because it’s uncomplicated, unrushed and inexpensive. All I need is a pair of well worn boots and a trail. I’ve been lacing up the same pair of boots for years and I’ve devoted most of my life to finding the trail. 

Jim DuFresne

In Alaska I went from being a sports editor to an outdoor writer. I gave up covering basketball and football to write guidebooks to wilderness areas. My first book, Tramping in New Zealand, was about backpacking in that Down Under country and was published by Lonely Planet. My second was a travel guide to Alaska with an emphasizes on escaping into the wild on the cheap. My third, Isle Royale National Park: Foot Trails and Water Routes, was a guide to Michigan’s wonderful island park. 

Today trails form the basis of almost everything I do outdoors; hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, Nordic skiing, snowshoeing. 

I’m lucky because I grew up and now live in a state that is blessed with trails. The Michigan State Park system has more than 90 units that are laced with nature walks, foot paths and mountain bike areas, so are the four National Forests in Michigan and the county parks that are found in every county. Isle Royale has 160 miles of hiking trails, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore has more than 100 miles, the Michigan State Forests have 65 pathways that total 750 miles. The longest trail in the nation, the North Country Trail, crosses the Upper Peninsula and then the Lower Peninsula for a hike of 1,150 miles! 

Most of my writing career has been focused on covering these trails in guidebooks, newspaper articles and magazine features. But due to the demise of print media, fueled by the Internet, I have recently chosen a different path. 

Earlier this year a handful of us launched www.MichiganTrailMaps.com, an online resource for trail users. The basis of the web site is to help people find a trail, whether they want a long hike, an overnight trek, a winding single track. Coverage includes custom maps that can be downloaded and printed, detailed coverage, photos and, in the near future, video. 

You can choose a trail by length, activity, the region  in which it’s located or by the county. The site contains features and news on Michigan trails, organizations and resources for trail users and a newsletter that will highlight the newest trails that we’re researching. 

You will also be able to read my blog, Trail Talk, a place where I plan to deliver commentary, views, humor, and the random thoughts that have occurred to me while following a trail through the woods. 

Pictured Rocks, MI

With our limited staff, we realize that it’s going to take time to build up an inventory of trails on our site because we’re not just posting a park map and listing directions. We’re actually out there, mapping and photographing the trails so we can provide the best coverage possible. Still within a half year of launching, we’re up to 75 trails, more than most guidebooks offer, and can easily envision the day when we have hundreds online in every county of Michigan. 

To those who have purchased my guidebooks and read my thousands of newspapers articles in the past, I want to say that I deeply appreciate it. Now I hope that I can encourage you to continue following me. My work is the same; promoting my passion for trails. It’s just the delivery that has changed.