The Gogebic Range Trail Authority has almost finished constructing a new segment of snowmobile trail connecting Bessemer and Wakefield.
The group worked quickly on the reroute after a section of trail on the Snowriver Mountain Resort closed when the resort changed ownership.
Jerry Nezworski, the trail boss and vice president of the Gogebic Range Trail Authority, says the new trail should be open by Thursday, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday morning.
“It took a lot to put this together,” he says, “and we did it together really quickly.”
Nezworski says the reroute was essential to connect snowmobile trails on the Wisconsin-Michigan border.
“This is the beginning of the Michigan side over here,” he says. “If you were to stop in Bessemer, that’s as far as you could go and that’s only six miles down the road.”
That’s especially important because those snowmobilers are a boon to local businesses.
“A lot of people come and stay in hotels and ride to the Copper Country,” he says. “I don’t even snowmobile, but I just want people to come up to our area, bring their money and keep businesses open year-round.”
Nezworski says snowmobile trails still have early season conditions, but he’s hoping that changes after the winter storm.