Planning For The Future At Hickory Forest, GT Commons Natural Area

After clearing the Michigan Senate last week, a bill that would release $45.6 million in funding from the state’s Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund for park development and acquisition projects is headed to the Michigan House of Representatives, where it is expected to soon be approved. Its passing will release $467,600 in funding for the City of Traverse City and Garfield Township Joint Recreational Authority – which is kicking in a $200,600 match – to purchase a 76-acre property next to Hickory Hills that will become a new public park called the Hickory Forest Natural Area. Local leaders are already hard at work surveying and planning trails on the property with the goal of opening it for hiking, cross-country skiing, and other passive recreational uses by next spring.

Following the death of local conservationist Clarence Kroupa, who long owned the property, his children agreed to preserve the site and worked with the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy (GTRLC) to line up interim buyers to hold it until the Rec Authority could secure funds to purchase it. In December, the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund board recommended using $467,600 in state funding to help with the property purchase, ranking Hickory Forest as the fifth highest priority project in a list of 22 statewide property acquisition projects. State legislators must next officially pass a bill to authorize distributing money from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund for those projects, with the Senate already approving the bill and the House of Representatives voting on it next. Once the bill is approved, funds will be disbursed and the Rec Authority can officially buy the property from its interim owners, a process Executive Director Matt Cowall expects to be completed later this year.

In the meantime, Rec Authority and GTRLC staff are working with botanists and surveying the site to determine the best routes for new trails from both a recreational and habitat preservation perspective. “There are some existing two-tracks that were left from the Kroupa family, but they wouldn’t be suitable for lots of public use,” says Cowall. “They’re too steep or would cause erosion. So we’re going to reinvent the trail through the property. The property is very sandy and very hilly, so we need to be careful about where we put the trails. There are only a few truly flat spots to work with, where we aspire to put in some smaller loops that are flat and accessible with viewing platforms.”

The property consists primarily of mesic northern forest dominated by maple and beech trees, plus abundant spring wildflowers. A handful of board members and local leaders who were recently invited to tour the property all had similar reactions, according to Cowall. “Very pretty, and very steep,” he laughs. “Everyone’s knocked out by it, but the main impression people take away is that it’s hilly. You do need to work to get around in there.” The payoff of those hills is beautiful rolling vistas overlooking dells and valleys, Cowall adds. “It leads to pretty sight lines, and it’s a nice, quiet place to get away,” he says. “It’s incredible to have it so close to downtown Traverse City and surrounded by all the neighborhoods.”

In addition to trail planning, the Rec Authority is also exploring access points to Hickory Forest. “We’re preliminarily looking at three different access points,” says Cowall. “There is frontage on M-72, so we’re working with MDOT (the Michigan Department of Transportation) on the feasibility of any kind of access from the highway on the north end. On the south end, it fronts on Barney Road, so we’re looking at creating access there as well, working with the Grand Traverse County Road Commission and Garfield Township.” Another access point would be from the Traverse City-owned Hickory Hills property next door. When Hickory Forest opens to the public, over 300 acres of connected recreational property will be in place between Hickory Forest, Hickory Hills, and Hickory Meadows. Cowall says the Rec Authority is working with the city on a wayfinding signage project so users know which site they’re on and how to navigate between the properties.

“There are a lot of moving parts at Hickory Hills, where they’re getting ready to add more frisbee golf holes and looking at dedicated mountain bike trails in addition to the ski and pedestrian trails,” says Cowall. “So as all of that takes shape at Hickory Hills next door, we’re looking at how we move people between the parklands so we don’t have conflicting uses, like putting pedestrians (from one park) onto a mountain bike trail (in another park). The signage will orient people across all three properties and let them know who the owners are, so if you need to get in touch with someone, you know who to contact.”

Depending on the timing of state funding being released and the property transfer being finalized, the Rec Authority could begin trail work this fall. However, Cowall anticipates the bulk of work will take place next spring, after which Hickory Forest will open to the public. He emphasizes in the meantime that the site remains in private ownership and is not yet open to public use. Meanwhile, in addition to Hickory Forest planning, the Rec Authority is also participating in a project to develop a design plan for the nearby Grand Traverse Commons Natural Area. Garfield Township, which owns the property, is leading that process with the goal of collecting public feedback to “create a multi-user park that meets the year-round needs of residents and visitors for passive recreation opportunities,” according to the township’s website.

In 2021, Michigan legislators passed a bill removing a deed restriction on the Grand Traverse Commons Natural Area that had prohibited biking and any other uses that weren’t specifically hiking or skiing on the property. Bikers had illegally used the property for years, creating their own trails that contributed to significant erosion issues on the site. With the deed restriction lifted, Garfield Township hired consulting group Environmental Consulting and Technology Inc. to help create a design plan that will not only identify park improvements to accommodate a wide range of users but also inventory and protect the park’s natural resources and wildlife habitat, improve access between the property and adjacent parks and neighborhoods, develop stormwater management systems, and identify funding sources for improvements. Garfield Township held a public open house earlier this month on the design plan; more public engagement opportunities are planned in the coming weeks and months, with township staff posting project updates online.