Prime Time Bikers

Bob and Aline Frybarger ride their bicycles together on the Falling Waters Trail near Lime Lake in this MLive file photo. Falling Waters Trail will be part of the new trail system in Michigan.

(MLive file photo)

LANSING, MI — Want to help name a potentially historic feature of Michigan?

The state’s Department of Natural Resources is asking Michiganders for suggestions on what to name a trail that runs from Belle Isle Park in Detroit to Ironwood in the western Upper Peninsula. The trail will connect existing trail paths across Michigan.

“We’re trying to distinguish this,” said DNR Parks Chief Ron Olson. “Something that has enduring qualities to it.”

Olsen said they are looking for a name that is on the scale of other iconic trails in the U.S., including the Appalachian Trail and the North Country Trail.

Suggestions are being accepted through Oct. 13, 2014. Submissions will be judged on several criteria. According to the DNR, names will be looked at for their “creativity, originality, ability to capture the character of Michigan and the trail riding experience, effectiveness in promoting Michigan as a great place to hike and bike.”

The winner will be chosen by the DNR, as well as the DNR’s Michigan Trails Advisory Council, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the Michigan Recreation and Park Association and the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance.

The winning name will be announced in December. Whoever provides it will also offered a choice of a vacation along the trail, at The Henry Ford Museum and Westin Book Cadillac in Detroit; The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island or The Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park Lodge in the Upper Peninsula. Runners up may also be selected for the prizes.

You can submit your idea of a name online, on Facebook or through a paper form, which can be submitted through the mail. View the form here as a PDF.

A detail of the new statewide trail in Michigan. The red trail is for biking, the blue for hiking. Solid lines mean the trail is already existing and the dotted lines are for proposed trails. See the full trail plans.

Some submissions so far include “Water Winter Wonderland Trail,” “The Michigan Lifeline Trail” and “The Great Peninsular Pathway.”

The trail way has been in the works for the past two years. Gov. Rick Snyder announced a plan in 2012 to connect existing trail ways in Michigan. The hiking trail would be 1,074 miles and the bicycling trail 1,040 miles. The DNR says that this is the "longest trail designated by a state government."

View PDF maps of the trails and proposals.

Olsen said it may take between two to three years to get major parts of the trail connected and have signs identifying pathways. About 25-30 percent of the trail still needs to be connected.

The DNR is looking to name the trail now “so people can start identifying that this is the real deal,” Olsen said.

The total investment for a project this size is around $150,000, including funding by local communities and grants.

“It will be a good example of linking partnerships,” said Olsen, including the state, local governments and nonprofits.

Fritz Klug is a news buzz reporter for MLive. Contact him at fklug@mlive.com or 269-370-0584. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.