News

Last year, we announced the ground-breaking for A New Gathering Place Along the BVT at Lewis Bridge Overlook. The new ‘pocket park’ was completed recently and last Saturday, representatives from the DNR, the Friends of the Trail, and members of the public gathered at the site to reflect on the… Read More »

Last November, the Friends announced our intent to raise the needed funds to pave the Trail from Beulah to Thompsonville. Since then, we’ve been working to identify potential funding sources for this big project. We’re looking at nearly $3 million to pave the 12-mile section. A Potential Game-Changer for Thompsonville… Read More »

The dedicated volunteer Trail Crew has long had a need for a storage facility along the trail. Currently, the Friends have several spread out, inconvenient, and costly storage sites, none of which are ideal for storage of motorized grooming equipment. Often, the Friends rely on volunteers to bring their own… Read More »

Resurfacing the trail along Crystal Lake last spring represented the first major upgrade of the trail in decades…and we’re just getting started! The Friends have been working hard the past couple years to build the capabilities of our organization. We’ve added several new board members and staff who are actively… Read More »

In his words below, Jed Maker, Board President of the Friends of the Betsie Valley Trail reflects on the first Ironman 70.3 which was partially held on the BVT. The IRONMAN competition came to Benzie County and our community welcomed it with open arms. More than 2,100 competitors and thousands… Read More »

Celebrate summer and welcome fall with the new Betsie Valley Trail Half Marathon, 10k , 5k & 1 Mile Fun Run hosted by North Mitten Events. The event will take place on Sunday, September 19th.  The Half Marathon, 10k and 5k courses are out and back on the Betsie Valley… Read More »

The Friends are extremely excited to have local triathlete, Frederik Stig-Nielsen representing us and raising funds as he competes in this year’s IRONMAN 70.3 Michigan event. As you’ll learn in the following entertaining interview, Fred is quite well-known in the community. Not just for providing criminal defense services as part… Read More »

Is there a speed limit on the Trail? Are dogs allowed on the Trail? Are e-bikes permitted on the Trail? These are a few of the questions we often hear from trail users and we’ll address these below, but we feel it’s important, as the Friends of the Betsie Valley… Read More »

In January of 2020, we were awarded a $150,000 DNR Recreational Passport grant to resurface the BVT along Crystal Lake. The Friends raised the required $50,000 in matching funds, but due to several factors, the project was delayed until this year. Today, the Friends of the Betsie Valley Trail are… Read More »

Most of us regular Betsie Valley Trail users are conditioned to stop and show extra caution when crossing M-115, but for visitors and the casual Trail user, the potential danger is not always readily apparent. That’s why the Friends decided to look into options that would help make this intersection… Read More »