Al Quaal Recreation Area — Attraction in Ishpeming

My review is regarding the groomed cross country skiing Teal Lake loop trail. It is a wide, nicely lit trail over some very interesting terrain - the perfect amount, size, and slope of hills - but it is not without its faults.

There are numerous trails criss-crossing in the loop, which are not fully detailed on either the posted map or those widely available (the 2019-20 Marquette Country Cross Country Ski Trails Guide), and not quite signed well enough. Some markers were missing, but we were able to finish the loop - or at least one of them.

The trail is lit at night, and we went at dusk. It looked like some of the lights were not functioning.

The overall impression I had was that it was once a very well kept facility (like the now defunct ski hill at the trailhead), but that it has not received the amount of maintenance that it needs in the last 10 or so years. I imagine the rising popularity of fat biking in the snow in the UP means fewer people are cross country skiing.

We made sure to donate for the trail use at the drop box tube, but that too was poorly signed and confusing. The Teal Lake loop trailhead had an unsigned drop box tube, with no information about the fees. The main (unlit trails) trailhead near the tubing hill provided a little more information, including locations to pick up an annual pass and the daily trail use fee. There were no envelopes to deposit the fee with - you just put the money...

Large park in Ishpeming. Several playgrounds for kids and a few baseball diamonds and a frisbee golf course. Lots of walking trails in the summer and lighted cross country ski trails and snowshoeing in winter. Popular place for sledding also. If you want you can try fishing in baby lake and it also has West access to teal lake. There is picnic sites and a gazebo. Public bathroom. There are to lodges that can also be rented for parties or...

So we went for the 4th of July fireworks that were on the 3rd of July. There's a large area for people to remain spaced out and still have a good viewing point. The problem I had is the men's bathroom floor looked like someone dumped a few 5 gallon buckets of water on it and smelled like beer or something of that sort. I know those types of restrooms can be prone to humidity which it was very humid that night, but the smell is what really...