Imagine riding your bike safely from Chicago all the way to Michigan. Thanks to a $17.8 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant, combined with fundraising efforts, this dream is becoming a reality.
Called the Marquette Greenway Trail, the 58-mile non-motorized trail will connect Michigan’s town of New Buffalo to Chicago’s South Side (which ultimately connects to the Chicago Lakefront Trail). Twenty two miles of the trail are already built, and 32 miles are mapped out and fully funded. Funds for the last four mile stretch of the trail — from the Indiana state line to downtown New Buffalo — were just raised at the end of 2022, thanks to a fundraiser hosted by Friends of Berrien County Trails.
According to Friends of Berrien County Trails, the goal is to complete the Michigan portion of the Marquette Greenway in 2025. The entire trail, from Chicago to New Buffalo, could be finished in 2027.
Visit berrientrails.org.
