A feasibility study on an additional nine miles of bike trail in Mercer wrapped up earlier this year.
The project will loop the trail that currently ends in Mercer to County Highway J and back to WinMan Trails and Manitowish Waters where bikers could pick up the Heart of Vilas County Trail system or loop back to Mercer.
It will be 26 miles total.
“It's ideal to have this loop, and the location in the Northern Highland [American Legion] Forest, goes past two state natural areas. It's going to be beautiful when we can do it,” said Brenda Nelson. She’s on the Iron County Outdoor Recreation Enthusiasts (ICORE) Board and is helping lead the effort to complete the loop.
She says the feasibility study helped them figure out how to break the project up into three phases. The first phase would be roughly three miles of new trail.
“Then what we would be doing is some painting on a road that would connect us back to the current trail,” said Nelson. “The first phase will actually make about a seven-mile loop around Mercer, but I think it's about three or four miles of brand new trails to connect it.”
The timeline will depend on when grants become available.
Nelson estimates the first phase will cost about a million dollars.
ICORE is hoping to get grants to cover about 80% of that, leaving them to fundraise roughly $250,000.
To help with that, the group is hosting the Mercer Bike Fest and Loon Ride on Saturday, August 2nd.
“We have a lot of people who are excited about the festival, and we have been seeing a lot of bikers, bicyclers, actually come through town,” said Julie Klug, an ICORE member and event organizer.
People can sign up for a 7-, 24-, or 50-mile ride that will give people a taste of the future route.
Afterwards, there will be food, live music, games, and raffles, including one for an E-bike, at Carow Park.
Klug encourages everyone, bicyclist or not, to come out and support the trail she believes will bring a boost to Mercer and add to all the other recreational opportunities in the area.
“I think that's going to be great for all the businesses, the motels, the restaurants, the gas stations. I mean, we want Mercer to be the hub of where biking starts and stops,” said Klug.
The Mercer Bike Fest and Loon Ride is in conjunction with Loon Days on August 6th where there will be an Art and Craft Show as well as the world famous loon calling contest.
You can register for the Loon Ride here.
