57 FALL 2020 ISSUE 01 / VOL . 02 SNOWGOER . COM
58 mile at a crossroad ,” Reed said . “ Once you get on the trail and get north of Seney , it ’ s like going back in time and you ride and just enjoy the beautiful scenery .”
Asked for two rides on which he would lead U . P . newcomers , Reed immediately popped into the mode of a tour guide .
DAY 1 : Discover The Plains
The improvement in trails and machines has changed things , Reed noted .
“ Years ago if you went from Seney up to Grand Marais , it was an all-day trip ,” Reed said . “ Now , you ’ d have breakfast in Grand Marias and then go over to Munising to have lunch .” And that would be his plan for day 1 , he said .
“ We ’ ll go up and stop at one of the restaurants in Grand Marais to have breakfast , because we ’ re going to leave early on this day ,” Reed said . “ And then from Grand Marais , we ’ re going to go west and run over to the Log Slide .”
The Log Slide , he explained , is a 300-foot high overlook located about 12 miles by trail from Grand Marais that features a panoramic view of Lake Superior , and is the first of many views along the Pictured Rocks area that he ’ d suggest . Next , though , he would take newcomers into an area not on the trail map .
“ Since I know the area , we ’ re going to take some two-track runs off of the trails – they are on state land , not on private land , so we ’ re OK – and play around in the Kingston Plains for a couple of hours .”
The Kingston Plains , located south of Grand Marais off of Adams Trail , was formed when it was heavily logged in the late 1800s , and then the earth was scorched by a forest fire “ that pretty much sterilized the soil for 75 or 80 years before things started to grow back ,” Reed said . The area gets about 300 inches of snow some years , and when a big base gets put down it ’ s a fabulous place to explore and play .
“ But if you go out there before the snow comes in and settles , you ’ ll be looking for a place to buy A-arms because
A side trip out of Paradise or Newberry to the Tahquamenon Falls is a worthwhile trip if you ’ ve never seen them before . There are two sets of falls , the upper being most dramatic with a 48 foot drop flowing as much as 50,000 gallons per second .