Although Superiorland’s bike trails – mountain biking and otherwise – are among the area’s best-known recreational assets, a major spread in a national magazine will only burnish that reputation.

Bike Magazine, in addition to its print edition, cites 1.6 million monthly visitors to its website plus another 450,000 social media followers, features mountain biking in Marquette County and the Western Upper Peninsula. In Marquette County alone, there are more than 150 miles of singletrack trails, 100 miles of which are purpose-built for mountain bikes, according to Bike’s article.

Entitled “Upper Echelon: A Taste of the Good Life, Yooper Style,” the article is a 25-page digital presentation which includes video. Five distinct trail networks over nine days across Marquette and Keweenaw counties are featured, a press release from Travel Marquette stated.

Travel Marquette and the Keweenaw Convention and Visitors Bureau, helped sponsor the spread.

According to a recent story in The Mining Journal, the recognition is only the latest in a series of regional and national nods biking in these parts has enjoyed in recent times. For example, the Noquemanon Trail Network has been recognized in the past by Bike Magazine, Silent Sports Magazine and other publications. The NTN Singletrack trails received EPIC Trail Status from the International Mountain Biking Association in 2014, one of two in Michigan and 16 in the nation. Marquette County was also recognized by IMBA for its Model Trail Awards when it was named a Bronze Ride Center.

This designation made Marquette one of only 20 IMBA Ride Centers in the U.S. and only the second location in the state to be recognized, with the other being Copper Harbor, according to Travel Marquette.

Years of planning and promotion are paying off for the people involved in this sport. We view this as yet another feather in their collective caps.

Mining Journal (Marquette)