Village of Baraga and Michigan DNR cut ribbon at Capul Recreation Park and Baraga Shoreline Trail

After many years of work, Baraga Village’s Capul Recreation Park and Coastal Trail are open. Yesterday afternoon, Baraga Village community leaders and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources held a grand opening ceremony for the coastal trail and campus recreation area near the Baraga Township Marina. Baraga Township President Wendell Dompier says the effort throughout the year involved many groups, funding sources, efforts with the DNR, partnerships with the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and community manager Leann LeClare.

Working with the tribe, we met to start this project. We looked from Sandpoint to Zeba. The first section was from Sandpoint to the marina here and the second section was from the marina to the state park with the walkway. In the meantime, Jacobson let us purchase the land so we could build a recreational park for children and adults. – Wendell Dompier, Village President, Baraga Village

The land for the recreation area was previously owned by the Jacobson family and once housed a sawmill. It was later transferred to the village with the assistance of two DNR Trust Fund grants. Leann LeClare says Capul Recreation Park continues to improve. A playground and pickleball courts will be installed in the village in just a few weeks. The recreation trail adjacent to the park stretches from Baraga State Park to the KBIC campground along Keweenaw Bay, with Capul Park centrally located.

We started with a previous grant, around 2015, and that grant purchased seven acres of land. And then you came back in 2021 with the rest of the property, five acres. So now you have a total of 12 acres for a community park right on the water. I think that’s great. I believe that last second grant was 250,000 for that purchase. – Merrie Carlock, DNR Trust Fund Grant Coordinator, Michigan Department of Natural Resources

The Capul Recreation Park and Baraga Shoreline Trail project has been supported over the years by Barga Township, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Michigan DNR, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and Baraga Village. For more information about recreation in the Village of Baraga, click here.