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22-Year-Old Entrepreneur Creates Wheels on Rails in Grand Traverse County

Wheels on Rails is a unique experience just south of Traverse City in Grawn. It gets you moving and enjoying the outdoors.

The owner of Wheels on Rails, Macie Hefron, had the plan to become a lawyer, but after working for the Michigan Department of Transportation through college and getting into cycling, her plans changed.

“I kind of took a leap of faith and went for it at the beginning without having my bikes ordered,” said Macie Hefron, Owner of Wheels on Rails.

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Taking Hefron to create Wheels on Rails.

“Wheels on rails are specially manufactured railroad bikes that have railroad wheels on them, and they essentially just glide down the tracks,” explained Hefron.

It’s about a 3.5-mile round trip on an out-of-service railroad in Grawn.

“We have actually beautiful scenery right after we passed Sawyer Road. It gets out to the woods. We have tall trees. We have a spring fed Creek, and we actually turn around under M 37 bridge, so there’s some graffiti and things like that,” said Hefron.

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“The other really cool thing about rail biking is it gets you out into an area that most people never get to see because being on the railroad, you get to see a lot that you just don’t get to see on the highways,” added Landen Keffer, an employee at Wheels on Rails.

For the 22-year-old entrepreneur, bringing something first of its kind to Michigan has been a journey.

“I honestly think just setting a goal every single day, the smallest little step that you take, is still a huge reward and a huge celebration,” said Hefron. “I think even just getting emails back from the state and from the federal government was a small celebration every day.”

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