HANCOCK — The Keweenaw Nordic Ski Club (KNSC) and the Keweenaw Community Foundation are excited to dedicate the rebuilding of the New River Trail, an eastern section of Trail 4 north of the Hancock Department of Public Works.

The dedication open, to all members of the public, will take place at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 23, with a ski of the trail. Participants are asked to gather at the Tomasi Road trailhead.

The dedication will celebrate the completion of a two-year trail renovation project that wrapped up last fall prior to the beginning of this winter’s ski season. The trail has been open for cross country skiing, snow biking and snowshoeing since early December. Once the trail dries out late next spring the trail will be open to hikers and mountain bikers providing a new access route to the Churning Rapids trail system along with intimate views of Swedetown Creek, its adjacent flora and wildlife including ongoing beaver workings. The trail’s natural beauty has already made it one of the most popular in the Maasto Hiihto/Churning Rapids system.

The project was conceived to improve the drainage and surface quality of a trail that had been in use for several years but was difficult to groom for skiing in the winter and was too rough and weedy to interest hikers and mountain bikers in the summer. With the trail improvements, ski trail grooming can begin earlier in the season and will be far more welcoming to public recreation in the summer. The project was initially delayed due to the Father’s Day Flood but was completed with the support of a number of community resources.

A key element of project completion included the successful capital campaign to purchase a multi-use tractor by the Keweenaw Nordic Ski Club. The tractor was delivered in November of 2018 with a bucket and backhoe. The tractor purchase was supported by 33 community donors along with a major donation from the John & Melissa Besse Foundation.

Foundational trail improvement support was provided by a grant of $6,000 from the Keweenaw Community Foundation PHF Community Wellness & Outdoor Recreation Fund. This initial funding was matched by $2,500 from the City of Hancock Community Development Fund and $10,895 provided by the Keweenaw Nordic Ski Club. Lead ski club groomer Colin Pekkala

performed most of the work using the club’s new tractor with limited bulldozer operations subcontracted from the Hancock Department of Public Works. The total project encompassed 4,900 feet of trail work.

For information about the Keweenaw Nordic Ski Club (KNSC) please visit https://keweenawnordic.org/.