Volunteers are needed to finish building the Kettles Trail at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore/Friends of Sleeping Bear

Seven years of planning the Kettles Trail at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan has ended, and now park staff are looking for some volunteers to help finish building the 3.5-mile trail.

The work is needed on June 1, National Trails Day.  The Kettles Trail is located in the Bow Lakes region of the park. Last year, park employees and volunteers began putting shovel to ground. Much of the trail is almost done.

Park employees and volunteers will be working on the connection between the new parking lot that recently was finished and the accessible trail, and addressing erosion issues that occurred as a result of the heavy rains this spring. They will also be fixing some areas of the trail that were damaged by four-wheel drive vehicles. Another group will be working on the spur trail to the bog.

The Work Bee will start at 9 a.m. on June 1 and finish around 1 p.m. You can come and help even if you can't stay the whole time, so don’t miss out on the opportunity to put the finishing touches on this new trail. 

Be sure to dress for the weather and wear work shoes and bring some work gloves. Bring a water bottle and the park will provide granola bars through a gift from the American Hiking Society and Nature Valley.