TOUR DES TREES OPENS REGISTRATION FOR 2025 EVENT IN MICHIGAN
Registration for the Tour des Trees- an annual long-distance bike ride that benefits the Tree Research and Education Endowment Fund (TREE Fund)- is now available and accepting riders for the 2025 event to be held in Michigan.
The annual fundraiser and outreach event that focuses on tree research, education, and support of arboriculture, will take place August 10-16, starting and ending in Grand Rapids. The full ride includes approximately 435 miles of riding over five days, with participants stopping at various events along the way to talk to the public about the importance of trees in our communities and proper tree care.
Riders come from all over the country and the world to participate in this annual event and raise money for TREE Fund. The ride will be returning to Michigan for the first time since 2005. This year’s route starts in Grand Rapids and will head north to Big Rapids, Traverse City, the Sleeping Bear Dunes area, and then return south to Manistee and Whitehall, before finishing in Grand Rapids. The ride is fully supported with hotels, meals, aid stations, and on-road rider support.
While each full riding day will be between 77 and 112 miles, shorter distance options will be available. While most riders will ride for the full week, partial riding options are available, too. All riders fundraise in order to participate and this year’s goal is to raise over $410,000 to support TREE Fund.
“We are very excited for the Tour des Trees to return to Michigan this summer,” said Jonathan Cain, TREE Fund Communication and Engagement Manager. “We have a local group of dedicated, veteran riders that have helped us to create a beautiful route and have already started working on contacting various groups for us to engage with during the week and talk trees. The excitement level for this year’s ride is high.”
Registration and information can be found at www.treefund.org/tourdestrees. Registration will be open until June 10 or whenever rider capacity is met. Donations can be made to individual riders, teams, or to the ride, in general, at www.tourdestrees.org.
For those that would like to support TREE Fund but are unable to attend the in-person ride in Michigan this year, a virtual option is also available. Participants in the Virtual Tour des Trees at home will be able to bike, run, walk, hike, or swim during their own time and record their miles on their personal fundraising page. Participants that hit certain fundraising levels will be eligible for prizes at the end of the summer.
The Tour des Trees bike ride is the main fundraising and community outreach event for TREE Fund, a non-profit organization whose mission is to support scientific discovery and dissemination of new knowledge in the fields of arboriculture and urban forestry. More information can be found at www.treefund.org.