Twenty square paintings now stand in a line along the Little Traverse Wheelway, starting at Bayfront Park and running toward Sunset Park. Each panel is four feet by four feet. There's a passenger pigeon, a painted turtle, a shoreline. The City of Petoskey cut the ribbon on them the last Friday in August.
A few miles west, on the bluff between Magnus Park and East Park in Bay Harbor, the same trail has been closed since October 2019, when city staff closed a mile-long section over slope problems. The collapse came the next spring. One trail, two very different speeds of change, and the difference comes down to the ground underneath. The new art went up in a public corridor between two parks. The Miracle Mile crosses private land, and the public walks it only because of easements. That's why one stretch got a gallery this season and the other got a trial schedule.
What went up between Bayfront and Sunset
The City of Petoskey Art Commission chose the 20 paintings. All the artists have ties to Emmet and Charlevoix counties, and the city says the work draws on the area's landscapes and its cultural and natural history. Funding came from the Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation through its Fund for the Community Hal and Gail Willens Family Fund, plus help from Complete Paint and Home Depot.
Mayor John Murphy told UpNorthLive the idea started with a visit to his daughter in Chicago, where he saw the artwork displayed at Graceland Cemetery. "Almost all of these are tied into Northern Michigan, in some way or other," he said. "From the passenger pigeon to the sunsets, right up to birds." City officials said there's room for more panels.
The city lists the artists in the order you'll pass them walking from Bayfront toward Sunset Park:
- Amy Peterman, "Overjoyed"
- Morgan Murphy
- Douglas Barron, "Along the Shore"
- Glen McCune
- Kathryn Mack
- Mary Bea McWatters
- Calla Beers
- Ellen Rosewall
- Naomi Webster
- Rachelle Hendrick, "Painted Turtle"
- Brian Goff
- Marissa Begnoche
- Mary Varilek
- Tiffani Laslo
- Grace Darden
- Cindy McCune, "Blue Meteor/Passenger Pigeon"
- Elizabeth McCormack
- Amy Lynne Pobanz
- Hattie Elise Peterman
- Matthew Bunker
The city spells two names differently on the same page. The artist list says "Ellen Rosewll" and "Tiffany Laslo," while the photo captions say "Rosewall" and "Tiffani." Look at the signs on the panels themselves if you're trying to find someone's other work.
In May, Northern Express described the plan as paintings on primed plywood, sealed and installed along the US-31 corridor. The city's Art Walk page doesn't say whether the panels stay up through winter or come down when the snow comes. If you want to walk the full line in fall color, plan on doing it before the weather decides for you.
Why the west end moves on a different clock
The Bayfront panels went from a project description in May to a ribbon-cutting in August. The Miracle Mile shows how slowly things move when private property is involved.
The Little Traverse Wheelway runs 26 miles, and parts of it cross private land that the public can use through easement agreements. The Top of Michigan Trails Council puts the closed stretch at about 1.25 miles of bluff from East Park in Bay Harbor to Magnus Park in Petoskey. The property owners of two parcels along that section sued the city in August 2025. They want Petoskey to pay for repairs they say are needed to keep their land from further damage, and they want the easements on their property released.
Here's how the dates line up:
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| October 2019 | City closes a mile-long section after staff find slope problems |
| April 13, 2020 | Erosion washout discovered on the Miracle Mile |
| August 2025 | Lawsuit filed by the property owners against the city |
| October 20, 2025 | Baird and Associates presents a progress update on the restoration design |
| November 6, 2025 | Council discusses using 2026 capital funds to design an alternative route north of US-31 |
| February 20, 2026 | City receives EGLE feedback on its joint permit application |
| August 18, 2026 | Council rejects the latest settlement and authorizes trial preparation |
| October 5, 2026 | Scheduled end of legal discovery |
| October 29, 2026 | Dispositive motions due |
The February entry is feedback on a permit application, not a permit. The city's March timeline lists it as a planning step, not the start of construction. Earlier repair estimates topped $20 million, and Bridge Michigan reported in August that officials are looking at cheaper options.
What the August vote kept on the table
The settlement the council turned down would have given Petoskey six years to line up money and permits and start construction. If the city missed those terms, the public would have lost access across the owners' property. If the city goes to trial and wins, it keeps the easements, and people can return to the Miracle Mile once the damaged section is repaired. If it loses, Bridge Michigan reported, it might have to make repairs on the court's timeline, and public access could be taken away from a stretch of trail that took decades to secure.
Councilmember Joseph Nachtrab represents the ward that includes the damaged trail. "I felt that our risk of losing is minimal," he told Bridge Michigan. The property owners said they had agreed to three settlements drafted in consultation with council members, and that the rejection made "no sense to us," according to Interlochen Public Radio. The city estimates a trial will cost $100,000 in legal fees. Becca Nelson, interim executive director of the Top of Michigan Trails Council, told the council the nonprofit will match up to $20,000 of the city's litigation costs. Nachtrab said that pledge factored into his decision.
Public comment at the August 18 meeting covered more than one town. A Resort Township resident pointed out that the trail took more than 30 years to build. A Petoskey resident put it this way:
"The Wheelway is one of the last free accessible shoreline experiences open to the residents and visitors at all income levels and abilities in all of our municipalities."
Several speakers said they were reaching out to Resort Township, Charlevoix, Harbor Springs and Emmet County to ask them to back Petoskey.
Riding west this October
The next date to watch is October 29, when dispositive motions are due. That's 23 days from today. These motions ask the court to decide all or part of the case without a trial. No trial date had been reported as of the August coverage, and no later update has surfaced.
Until something changes, the only way around the gap is an unofficial detour on the US-31 shoulder. The Petoskey Area Visitors Bureau says neither it nor the Trails Council recommends that route, especially for children or less experienced riders. According to the bureau, the Trails Council's guidance is that all bike traffic should stay on the bay side of the highway, whichever direction you're going. The pylons the bureau mentions as protection are a summer-months measure. The Trails Council's current trail page lists the Miracle Mile as the only partial closure, with the other sections open.
So for an October ride heading west, the easy turnaround is Magnus Park. The Art Walk is the newest stretch on the Petoskey side, and the Bayfront panels are a good place to stop on the way back. Neither the city nor the Trails Council has published whether the Petoskey segment gets cleared of snow, so once winter arrives, plan around that.
The Wheelway draws more than 100,000 people a year in the summer months, according to the Visitors Bureau. Every one of them who rides west from Petoskey hits the same gap at Magnus Park.
If you're looking at a property near the Wheelway, or anywhere a trail easement shows up on the survey, Pat O'Brien and our team can walk you through how that access works on that specific parcel. Contact us when you're ready.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
