'Tis the Season
MUDDY CREEK TWP — At Moraine and McConnells Mill state parks, the coming winter means a lot of preparation work for staff.
“It's a significant effort,” said assistant park manager Jake Weiland. “Winterizing the park takes quite a long time.”
The process begins after Labor Day. The Lakeview and Pleasant Valley beach areas are closed in September.
Most of the restrooms in the parks are not heated, so they are closed during the winter. Portable toilets are placed in different parts of the park in their place.
At the marinas, the facilities are winterized, buoys are removed and the docks are pulled out of the water so they do not freeze in the lake. Docks also are removed from the public boat launch areas.
Dustin Drew, park manager, said food, bike and boat rental facilities are privately owned, so the owners clean up, get rid of extra inventory and do some repairs.
“So, they have a role to play,” Drew said.
Then, the park follows up with winterizing the buildings.
There also are staffing changes. All of the seasonal staff are placed on unpaid leave during the winter months. During the summer, the parks have 40 employees. This number drops to about 12 during the winter.
Fall also is a time for park staff to work on projects, before all of the seasonal employees leave for the winter.
This year, the park is working on reroofing a cabin, building a foundation for a new restroom and working to build a bridge over Muddy Creek on the North Country Trail, among other things.
Although some part of the park are closed, the park remains open for the winter.
“There isn't as much access during the winter months ... but all the areas remain open,” Drew said.
For example, the gate at Lakeview Beach will be closed, but guests can park outside it and walk to the beach. And, although docks are removed from public launch areas, boaters still can use the launches.
Drew said that visitation at Moraine takes a bit of a dip during the winter, but McConnells Mill keeps a steady stream of visitors for the most part.Because of the rough terrain on trails at McConnells Mill, hikers need to be conscious of slick spots during the winter, Drew said.“They need to use more caution than usual,” he said.At Moraine, some roads are not maintained during the winter, but the main roads are plowed and covered with gravel, anti-skid material and some salt. At McConnells Mill, the roads are township roads, so they are maintained by the local townships rather than the park.Bike trails become snowmobile trails, so they are not plowed.When winter ends, seasonal staff members begin trickling in near the end of March. Later, the staff puts the docks back in Lake Arthur, and buildings begin opening up. The beaches are opened around Memorial Day.“It's kind of a phased return,” Drew said.
