GLADSTONE — A ribbon cutting yesterday officially opened the Little Bay de Noc Trail and Trailhead at Van Cleve Park in Gladstone.

Gladstone Parks and Recreation Director Nicole Sanderson said she appreciates that the community has embraced the 2.5 mille long trail that runs along the Little Bay de Noc shore.

“It’s not Gladstone’s trail and it’s not the Gladstone Recreation Department’s trail, it’s Delta County’s trail,” Sanderson said. “That is very, very apparent when people start taking over and wanting the responsibility of maintaining it.”

Sanderson says the trail has opened up a part of Gladstone that many people had not been able to get to and even encouraged more use of the water along the trail.

Tony Lambert, president of the Delta County Non-Motorized Trail (DCNTrails) group says even he was surprised by the number of people who have been using the trail.

“It’s good to see that people are using the trail because there were a lot of people that said it was going to get used so it’s nice to prove that if we are going to build something like this people do and will enjoy it,” Lambert said.

DCNTrails has agreed to be responsible for the maintenance of the trail.

Lambert says the next step is connecting the trail with a pathway system in Escanaba.