Algoma receives Ice Age Trail Community designation, new trail segment

By Janelle Fisher

Arts and Entertainment Editor

ALGOMA – At the end of August, Algoma will celebrate its designation as an official Ice Age Trail Community and the opening of the Algoma Segment, joining a network of communities across the state already working with the Ice Age Trail Alliance to support the trail and those who utilize it.

“The Ice Age Trail Community Program is a partnership with municipalities located throughout the state of Wisconsin near the Ice Age Trail and it’s a partnership with the Ice Age Trail Alliance…” said Amy Lord, Ice Age Trail Alliance outreach and education manager. “Our mission is to promote, create, maintain and support the Ice Age Trail. Our Trail Community Program is an opportunity for the alliance to work with municipalities, cities, villages and townships to support the trail, to promote the trail and to better the trail for community members and hiking enthusiasts who love the Ice Age Trail.”

This summer, Algoma joins the ranks of more than 20 communities across the state as a designated Ice Age Trail Community.

“It’s been a pretty good year,” Lord said. “Five new trail communities is amazing — we usually get one to two every year. This year, having five, we’re busy onboarding these communities… We’re super excited to have all these new communities join us. And in terms of trail, every year is different. We have a plan in place to build and maintain trail and last year was actually one of our best years. I think we built 15 miles of new trail. This year we’re not going to have that much, but anytime we can get new trail, it doesn’t matter how long it is. It’s a good thing. We’re really excited to have this new segment and showcase it for the community and all of our other hikers that are working to finish the Ice Age Trail.”

Along with the designation of Algoma as an Ice Age Trail Community, the city is also home to more than three miles of newly blazed Ice Age Trail, adding to the roughly 50 miles of Ice Age Trail already in Kewaunee County.

“The Ice Age National Scenic Trail is about 1,200 miles,” Lord said. “We’re still building it, so 700 miles are done. They’re complete. So we’re still working on connecting the dots and closing the gaps. We’ve got about 450 miles to go. The Ice Age Trail of Algoma will be an urban trail segment, so it will go right through the downtown area of Algoma. We’re excited because the trail showcases so many different landscapes of Wisconsin and tells the story of glaciers and what glaciers meant to our landscapes. But it also goes through communities, so we can tell the story of the community.”

“The story of the Ice Age Trail is the story of the glacier,” Lord said. “It traces the route of the glaciers from our last ice age 20,000 years ago. And it’s an awesome way to see Wisconsin because there’s so many different landscapes. In Algoma, you’re on the coast, looking at beautiful Lake Michigan. Maybe you head south to the Kettle Moraine area and you’re seeing the hills and the valleys and the peaks and the lows. Then maybe you head over to northern Wisconsin and all of a sudden you’re exploring the Chequamegon National Forest and these big beautiful woodlands. It’s a great way to see Wisconsin while you’re hiking the Ice Age Trail. I think it’s really important to know the scope — how big it is, why it is where it is and why we have the route where it is.”

As the non-profit partner of the Ice Age Trail, the Ice Age Trail Alliance relies on donations — of money and time — to make progress on its goal of finishing and maintaining the trail.

“We have over 6,000 members and we have thousands of volunteers that are just an amazing community that supports the trail and supports hikers,” Lord said. “Our mission is to complete the trail. We don’t know when that’s going to happen, but it’s a really great group of people. If folks are new to the trail and want to get more involved or maybe dip their toe into hiking it, join us at an event. If it’s at the Algome Trail Community Celebration, that would be awesome.”

A special event will be held to celebrate the designation of Algoma as a Trail Community in addition to the ribbon-cutting for the newly blazed Algoma Segment of the trail will take place on Sunday, Aug. 25, from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Algoma Boat Club.

More information about the Ice Age Trail Alliance can be found at iceagetrail.org.