APRIL 25th UPDATE: A new governor’s order has been released. Face coverings are now required in enclosed places. Also bicycle maintenance and repair shops may reopen.  Download the entire order here.

APRIL 10th UPDATE: A new governor’s order has been released. Read the entire order here.

The stay at home order has been extended until the end of April.

The exception for outdoor activity remains in place, so it is still permitted:

“To engage in outdoor physical activity, consistent with remaining at least six feet from people from outside the individual’s household. Outdoor physical activity includes walking, hiking, running, cycling, kayaking, canoeing, or other similar physical activity, as well as any comparable activity for those with limited mobility.”

In addition, it’s important to note that after April 10th, travel between two residences within Michigan is not permitted.

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Recently, in our update about the coronavirus Get Out and Enjoy the Trail — Safely, we shared the governor’s stay at home order. The order includes some exceptions and one of those allows Michiganders to leave their homes to engage in outdoor physical activity including the safe use of hiking and biking trails. This has given all of us who work to maintain the Betsie Valley Trail a greater feeling of responsibility to provide a safe experience for everyone who uses the trail during this time of physical distancing.

It’s no surprise that we are seeing an uptick in usage of the trail (and the roads) – with the governor’s order exception in place and more folks arriving at their second homes – not to mention the nice weather we’ve been having. We’re pleased to welcome our trail regulars, as well as, those who’ve recently dusted off that bike in the back of the garage.

We’re going to do our best to keep you informed of the latest restrictions, trail conditions, facilities availability, status of events, and more. As we receive guidelines from leaders at the federal and state level for best practices in how to do our part to keep our community safe and healthy, we’ll continue to share them with you. Below is list of resources and places you can plug into locally as well.

PLEASE STAY TUNED: The Betsie Valley Trail Care Coordinator will be releasing a report about current conditions on the trail tomorrow. We’ll post John’s report here on our blog and will send it out to all our e-newsletter subscribers (be sure to sign up for a subscription). You can also follow us on Facebook.

We want to encourage a positive and healthy experience for all who use the trail and you can help! Send us your pictures and comments from the trail and we’ll share them with our readers. Please email your pictures to: info@betsievalleytrail.org

We are proponents of the term ‘physical distancing’, rather than ‘social distancing’, because during these times when many of us are feeling isolated, it’s important to be kind and supportive of each other. Socializing is important – we just need to use new ways to be social! We encourage you to make use of today’s technology to video chat.  We hear many are using the Zoom app to have group get-togethers online.

RESOURCES*…

Local

National

*Resources and graphic courtesy of our friends at TART Traverse Trails.