Michigan Trail Tuesday: Miners Memorial Heritage Park, Ironwood

Michigan Trail Tuesday is our attempt to showcase a different trail or trail segment each week. The Mitten State is home to thousands of miles of trails, including the new Iron Belle Trail that runs from Detroit in the southeast to Ironwood in the western Upper Peninsula and more miles of the North Country Trail than any other state.

Our 2026 quest to hike a “new to us” trail in every Michigan county found us visiting Ironwood in June, which gave us the chance to finally visit the Miners Memorial Heritage Park. This beautiful park is open in all seasons and it offers more than 10 miles of trails for hiking, mountain biking, snowshoeing, and cross country skiing. Signs placed along the trail focus on the area’s mining history and point out the locations where mines were located in the early 1900s. This was a great place for a short, scenic hike with a little bit of history splashed in!

We visited the east section of the park, and after parking in the lot by the baseball field we headed out to tackle the Aurora Loop (one mile) trail. The trail is wide and easy to follow, most of it being mowed grass path.

The east section features mountain bike trails like Red Devil, Street Car, Easy Street, and Rift. These range from short to a mile in length and as you hike you’ll occasionally catch a glimpse of these narrower dirt paths as they parallel or intersect the hiking trail.

We enjoyed seeing the benches placed along the pathway, as each had its own artistic twist. Our visit was just a few weeks before Art in the Park, which adds many colorful art installations along the Aurora Loop.

The history of the Aurora Mine is told through signs along this hiking loop, with some remnants of the mining days still on site. This was one of six mines that operated in the Ironwood area, seeking iron ore from the Gogebic Range.

We saw few other visitors to the park during our visit. A few woodpeckers were unbothered by our presence and we also spotted a deer watching us from the tree line.

Partway through the loop there is a butterfly garden (and a spur trail to another parking area). We were early for flowers and there was a light mist falling as we hiked so we did not see any butterflies. A chalkboard helps visitors track sightings during spring and summer months.

This was a great trail for a quiet morning hike and a great reminder of the history of Ironwood. We barely scratched the surface of exploring the east park of this park, and would love to return and explore more of the trails. The west section of the park has more mountain bike trails like Dowtown Drift, Ore Car, Burma Bowl, Iron Bowl, and more. A connector trail even joins this park’s trails with the Iron Belle Trail, a bicycle and hiking route that runs from Ironwood (west terminus) to Belle Isle in Detroit (east terminus). We are truly blessed with all the great trails in our state, and we are thankful to the Friends of Miners Memorial Heritage Park for keeping this park in Ironwood well-maintained and welcoming for visitors.

To reach the parking lot by the baseball field, head south on Lake St. from U.S. 2 and follow it for a couple blocks to E. Ayer St. Hang a left on E. Ayer St. and the parking lot and baseball field will be on the right hand side of the road shortly.