Iron Belle Trail, the longest state trail in the nation, touches hundreds of municipalities and crosses 48 Michigan counties. Now more expansions are on the way.

The new section of barrier-free, non-motorized trail opened September 27 with a ribbon cutting ceremony at Genesee County Parks & Recreation Administrative Offices. The section extends the existing Iron Belle Trail from Genesee and Stanley roads another 2.25 miles to Vassar road.

The project also included expanding the trail-head parking lot on the east side of the Genesee County Parks Administration Building.

Originally, a walking and horse trail cut by boy scouts in 1974, this section of trail has now been upgraded to a paved pathway wide enough to accommodate biking and foot traffic in both directions through the wooded, scenic route.

“We are really trying to make Genesee County a premier place that people want to go,” says Mark Young, Genesee County Commissioner and chairman of the board of commissioners. “We are going to have some of the best trail systems in the state as we expand it.”

This newest leg of the Iron Belle Trail is just the beginning.

Genesee County Parks has applied for additional grants to increase the connected miles of paved trail. The next phase is to take the trail to Irish Road and another addition will go through Richfield Park.

“This is a critical piece of the Iron Trail project,” says Lindsay Ross, the grant coordinator for the DNR who worked on the 2017 Trust Fund Grant that made this new addition possible, “I know Genesee County is working on expanding beyond here and in other areas in Genesee County, so it is a great effort on their part.”

Construction for this section was completed in cooperation with the Genesee County Road Commission and the Genesee County Planning Commission.

Here is a map of the trail.

The project was funded through a Michigan Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund Grant and funds administered by the Genesee County Metropolitan Planning Commission, including Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Grant Funds and Transportation Alternative Program.

“This is a true collaboration of county government,” says Barry June, acting director of Genesee County Parks. “Government is working for you, and this is what happens when we work together.”

For more information on Genesee County Parks please click here.

  Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Grant Funds and Transportation Alternative Program, Genesee County Metropolitan Planning Commission, Genesee County Parks, hiking in Flint, Iron Belle Trail, Michigan Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund Grant

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