(ambient guitar music) On the banks of Lake Superior just outside of downtown Marquette is a stone structure which stands as a welcoming landmark to the historic mining city.

The Carp River kiln is just one of the many historical stops to visit as part of the Iron Ore Heritage Trail.

- Back in the 1800s they would make charcoal to put in these big iron furnaces, and charcoal heated faster and hotter.

So they would put wood in these kilns and burn the wood to make charcoal.

So on this property, there used to be a big furnace with 19 kilns dotted along the way that somebody would keep that fire running and make the charcoal to put into the furnace to make the pig iron.

And the reason it's pig iron is because it would melt down into these structures that look like mini pigs.

- [Stefanie] The Iron Ore Heritage Recreation Authority has developed an interesting way to celebrate the iron mining legacy, a 47 mile interpretive rail trail that tells their story while traversing the same land that the iron ore once did.

- [Carol] We do wanna celebrate our past and a lot of what Marquette looks like is because of that past.

I mean, the people that made money that built these beautiful buildings, the ore dock that you'll see, and everybody goes, what is that?

'Cause not many places have an ore dock, when we have two.

So we wanna celebrate what our unique past is.

- [Stefanie] Since 1845 iron ore has been mined in the Marquette iron ore range.

The iron helped drive the industrial revolution and played a pivotal role in the Allied war efforts, feeding raw materials to the factories that produce planes, tanks, ships and ammunition.

- We have 81 interpretive signs like right here that we tell people what happened.

And we don't give you the whole story 'cause we get about 100 or 150 words, but we wanna give you an inkling.

And then also you go past a lot of the museums that we have here, the cliff shaft, the Michigan Iron Industry Museum, where a linear history that you'll see what's happened, we'll tell you what's happened, and then you can go and find more in the museums.

But you'll see the progression of mining when we'll talk about it, where it was like an open pit where people just hit the rock and broke it apart and got the ore, to the days where they went underground because you couldn't see the good ore anymore.

Like 70% iron is good ore, but then it starts getting less and less.

So they would follow that vein down underground.

We also have some artwork that tells you about the different transportation, and it's underneath a trestle, a train trestle that's actually live still.

So you could go underneath it while a train's going above you.

And we talk about the different transportation, 'cause first of all, they started with ox and carrying carts down, and then you had locomotives, and then steam locomotives, and now the diesel locomotives.

So just the differing ways that transportation carried it.

- [Stefanie] The Iron Ore Heritage Trail runs from Ishpeming through Negaunee to Marquette and out along the shores of Lake Superior.

Repurposing the abandoned railroad quarters, the trail takes visitors on a one of a kind experience only found in the upper peninsula.

- [Cindy] We're blessed with a natural and beautiful geography.

So we have these big rock outcroppings, we have a big forest, and we have Lake Superior shoreline, which is probably the most popular part of the trail with people here.

So you'll go by rivers, you'll go over rivers, you'll see lakes, go to parks.

It's not just the history, but it's also the natural beauty.

- [Stefanie] The natural beauty of the area has attracted outdoor enthusiasts from across the state and beyond.

A must stop destination is Presque Isle.

Adam, of course, found the best way to explore it.

(ambient music) - Start peddilng.

We're going to be looking at some e-bikes here at Bates Bikes.

Electric bikes are gonna bridge the gap of the accessibility that people need to get back on a bike or extend it.

They're gonna help you gain a little bit of assistance going up a hill or through tough terrain.

As you pedal, it's gonna multiply your input, and the harder you pedal, the more assist you get.

You also have an optional throttle that you can use if you have any hip, knee, or ankle issues.

Now Presque Isle is special to Marquette because we a one-way loop that goes around an isle.

It's the closest thing we have to an island here that you can get on easily.

And so what's nice about it, bikers, hikers, and even cars can go on this accessibility trail, up around different rock formations that are special to the history of Black Rocks.

There's some indigenous history, there's some zoo history.

Now Black Rocks is my favorite part of Presque Isle.

It's a formation of rocks that you can jump 15 feet into about 30 feet of water.

And so a lot of families go there.

An electric bike is the best way to see Marquette because we kind of have a far range of a lot of things to do, from Presque Isle to the shoreline trail, all the way out to Harvey and up towards Negaunee.

So in order to see everything, you are gaining a lot of distance.

And for the novice rider, for the person that hasn't been on a bike a lot, the electric bike bridges the gap of skill and allows them to go further, faster, and frequent.

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