by Matt Konkle
Managing Editor
HOLLY, Mich. — Holly Oaks Off-Road Vehicle Park sits confidently on a 235-acre swath of land carved out between Dixie Highway and Interstate 75, just about an hour northwest of Detroit.
The place offers dirt trails, rocky obstacles, muddy pits, cement ledges, and challenging hill climbs that emulate the DNA of virtually any quality off-road destination across the country.
And those around the area have certainly noticed since the place first opened its, er, ‘doors’ back in September of 2020. Off-roaders throughout the populous Michigan, Ohio and Indiana landscape have since found their way to the park at least a few times each year — many visiting way more than just a handful of times.
Unfortunately, though, just like all those other quality off-road destinations across the country, more traffic means more trash, more trail damage, as well as the need to install fencing and signage to help guide new (and experienced) park attendees.
So, on a recent Saturday, Holly Oaks found itself as one of five locations across Michigan hosting a trail cleanup/restoration event during the first annual Tread Lightly! Day Michigan.
This expansive project consisted of trail cleanup and restoration work at Holly Oaks, as well as fencing installation in the Mio State Forest, trail restoration at Sand Lake near National City, Michigan, a trail cleanup inside Hiawatha National Forest in the middle of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and a cleanup project at Ottawa National Forest near Lake Superior.
Tread Lightly!, a national non-profit organization dedicated to promoting responsible outdoor recreation through education and stewardship, sponsored the day with the help of onX Offroad, and modeled it after a similar program held last year in West Virginia.
”Michigan’s state slogan is ‘Keep it Fresh’, and it is based off the natural beauty from all its beaches, lakes, forests and thousands of miles of trails, so this program day is simply a great fit,” said Scott Ammerman, Tread Lightly! Northeast Program Manager. “It was definitely exciting to see so many volunteers turn out at all five locations to help restore, protect and enhance all these sites.
At Holly Oaks, about 20 volunteers fanned out across the park, braving a bit of morning rain and high humidity, to erect fencing for off-trail environmental protection, pare down overgrown brush with hedge trimmers and Weedwhackers, and stuffing trash bag after trash bag with litter and debris.
"Out west, they're taking trails away because they don't want people to damage them," said volunteer Wesley Smith. “We have to be good stewards of the land. If we're good stewards, we'll get to keep these playgrounds.”
Another group headed for the park’s popular Mount Magna section to perform mud and trash removal near one obstacle. This location specifically copies a lot of what makes Moab, Utah, great, thanks to unique slickrock climbs with dips and ledges that nicely challenge any driver.
Directly behind Mount Magna is a concrete sloped staircase with a neat, steep, bumpy climb up and down a hill to give drivers a taste of what their vehicle can accomplish.
Over the years, though, mud and sand have infiltrated those concrete steps and pretty much turned them into small speed bumps instead of an actual obstacle. So this group snatched shovels, rakes, brooms, and eventually a pickaxe, to remove all that sand and mud from the stairs.
It was hard work in the humid, soggy conditions, but the group persevered and eventually cleared both sides of the staircase obstacle.
Shortly after, a small group of first-time off-road drivers came through and carefully worked their way over the staircase — now a legitimate, fun impediment that provided a helpful learning experience.
Following the step cleanup, some of those volunteers ventured out into the brush with trash bags to pick up whatever refuse they could find. They quickly filled bags with handfuls of plastic parts, zip ties, nylon material, exhaust tips, aluminum cans and bunches of wiring.
In all, 80 bags of trash were collected, as well as 18 tires, four ruined exhaust kits and a bumper.
”I don’t understand why people throw this stuff into the grass when they can just put it into their backseat and throw it away later,” said volunteer Ashley Konkle. “I just don’t understand. It is upsetting to me because if we don’t stop doing this, then we won’t have these great places to have fun with our Jeeps”.
Holly Oaks consists of reclaimed sand and gravel mine land and a lot of effort has been spent the past few years turning the place into something fun and challenging for off-roaders no matter the skill level. The park is maintained through entry fees, and while no clean-up duty is required for those who use the park, projects like the Tread Lightly! Day Michigan provide much-needed restoration help.
“Tread Lightly! Day Michigan brought an amazing group of off-roaders together at Holly Oaks ORV Park,” said Tread Lightly! Board Member and Z Performance President Tom Zielinski. “Trail clean-up, trail restoration and the camaraderie of working together to ensure that everyone has a chance to experience off-road adventure is what it is all about, and help from onX Off-Road, Quadratec and the team from Detroit 4Fest made for a productive day.”
Last fall's Tread Lightly! Day West Virginia served as inspiration for the Michigan event. Overall, the West Virginia Day incorporated 15 projects, 158 volunteers and removed over 20,200 pounds of trash from state trail and forest systems. While this Michigan version wasn't as large, Tread Lightly! does plan to be back for a second edition next year.
"We'll definitely be back next summer to Michigan and we hope to widen the project scope and involve as many locations as possible," Ammerman said.
Recommended Reading:
Quadratec, Tread Lightly ’50-for-50’ Trail Cleanup — Holly Oaks, Michigan
Volunteers Drive Important Kane Creek Trail Maintenance Project
