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The following press release was issued by MI-TRALE:
June 9th turned out to be a great day in the Western Upper Peninsula for over 70 machines to enjoy the 7th annual SPORT Ride.
The weather was perfect for the 110 mile ORV ride through the woods to experience our beautiful scenery. This ride has become the event of the year with the Michigan DNR (Twin Lakes State Park), the Ottawa National Forest, and MI-TRALE partnering to provide this annual ride to the public. It is always held on the 2nd Saturday in June, so that it coincides with the Michigan ORV Free Riding Weekend (No license is required).
This year the ride was extra special as we were able to ride along the scenic Sturgeon River Gorge Wilderness Area, via FR2200, which was recently opened to ORV use by the Ottawa National Forest. In addition to FR2200, the Ottawa National Forest also provided us with a special use permit to use additional roads that would normally be closed to ORV use, providing a unique riding experience for those in attendance.
The ride started at the Twin Lakes State Park. The DNR folks stationed there have provided over whelming support of this ride every year. This year was no exception with Coffee and donuts being provided before the ride started. The park also provided a chase/recovery vehicle which was put to good use twice during the ride. But more importantly carried the fixings for our river side lunch held at the newly opened (to ORV users) Sturgeon River Gorge Campground. Our first stop after leaving Twin Lakes State Park was the Triple Trestles over Look. This consists of 3 tall steel structured trestles over the Fire Steels Rivers. After a brief photoshoot the group headed toward the Sturgeon River Gorge Wilderness Area. The next stop was for lunch at the Sturgeon River Gorge Campground. The guests had a great time cooking hot dogs over an open fire. You need to stop by this campground, it is a hidden gem.
After the lunch stop we headed back toward Twin Lakes State Park on the OC Route, connected to the Bill Nicholls Route and finally back to the Twin Lakes State Park.
This was a great ride with the riders making this the best SPORT Ride ever. It will be difficult to top the 2018 ride.
If you have suggestions for the 2019 ride or participated in the 2018 ride and would like to share your comments, please do so, on the MI-TRALE Facebook page.
