Michigan DNR May Soon Allow E-Bikes on Nearly All State Park Trails
Accessibility is such an important thing in today's society. We're constantly trying to improve our community to allow more people to participate. And one of the newest and hottest fads in vehicles could allow more Michiganders to explore our trails and parks.
Electric bikes (or e-bikes) have given more people the ability to ride long distances on a bike with much less effort put in. While not everyone who enjoys these bikes needs the extra assistance, the technology does allow people to be able to take on longer distance rides that they may have not been brave enough to tackle in the past.
Currently under Michigan's rules, a majority of e-bikes are banned from being ridden on state maintained trails. But a proposed law change could allow them to become a new normal amongst the other outdoor activities.
Currently the law allows for Class-1 e-bikes (those that are pedal assisted, and that can go up to 20 mph) to be ridden on the improved access trails which are paved or have gravel. The new law would allow those bikes to be ridden on natural surface, non-motorized trails on state park lands.
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The next part of the law that is being proposed that would really allow for accessibility would be that Class-2 e-bikes (throttle- and pedal-assisted up to 20 mph) to be allowed on both linear paved trails and natural surface trails for mobility purposes with a permit. These bikes are generally used by people who cannot easily ride a standard bike, so this could allow some new people to participate in biking that may have not been able to in the past.
Class-3 e-bikes (pedal-assisted, can go up to 28 mph) however, would still not be allowed on Michigan's trails. This would keep some amount of safety standard in place for anyone who may be concerned with people moving too quickly around and causing a safety hazard.
The DNR is now asking for your opinion on this topic, now through March 31st. You can sound off on their website, and they'll discuss the answers to this survey on April 11th at their meeting.
This would be a great step for the state to take to encourage more people to get outside and enjoy the thousands of miles of pure Michigan trails that they may not want to tackle using a traditional bike. Plus, the money generated from permit sales would just further help our parks, and hold some accountability so the trail won't just be super fast e-bikes. This is a fantastic move that hopefully will be implemented soon.
