About
River Trails
An outdoor-oriented community with like-minded people who share values for respecting nature, for sustainable lifestyles, and for having easy access to the Keweenaw's beauty.
STEWARDSHIP WRITTEN INTO THE LAND.
SKI TO WORK. WALK TO THE RIVER.
COMMUNITY MINDED. KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS.
WHERE THE TRAILS CONNECT AND SO DO THE PEOPLE.
Our Origin Story
River Trails founder, Don was raised in Houghton, Michigan. He spent four decades marketing and building master- planned communities in Colorado. He returned to the Keweenaw Peninsula with a fundamentally different vision of what land development could be.
He discovered River Trails while snowshoeing in 2020 and spent the next year studying the property before deciding to purchase it. He came back to the area because this is home, but also because he recognized something rare: a landscape worth protecting and a chance to create a different kind of development, one that works with the land rather than against it.
River Trails LLC is a Michigan LLC owned by Donald R. McLean, Norman McLean III, and Andrew McLean. Find Don on LinkedIn at Donald McLean.
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Peaceful. Healthy. Connected
River Trails is an outdoor-oriented community with like-minded people who share values for respecting nature, for sustainable lifestyles, and for having easy access to the Keweenaw's beauty. -
At River Trails, sustainability is expressed in the everyday details. Homes are scaled with intention, built from natural and durable materials, and designed to sit lightly on the land. Traditional lawns give way to pollinator plantings, and chemical-free stewardship protects the soil and waterways that define this place. The land stays quiet -- xc skiing, mountain biking, hiking and fishing are the rhythm here -- and a shared commitment to clean, natural aesthetics means the community looks as good as the land around it. This is what it means to build somewhere worth keeping.
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On your doorstep, by trail:
Michigan Tech’s campus: bikeable or skiable from your lot through the trail system, no road required
Michigan Tech + Nara Nature Trails: groomed Nordic routes for skiing, snowshoeing, and fat biking across four trailheads throughout Houghton
Downtown Houghton: walkable or bikeable via the Pilgrim River corridor
A short drive up the peninsula:
Houghton Middle + High School: 1 mile by trail, 1.8 miles by road
Keweenaw Co-op: community-owned since 1973, partnering with over 45 local producers — 5 miles
F.J. McLain State Park: 443 acres on Lake Superior, 2 miles of beach, views of the art deco lighthouse — 10 miles
Copper Harbor: world-class mountain biking, Isle Royale ferry, Brockway Mountain Drive — 46 miles, just under an hour
Site Plan + Location
"Mutual respect is the whole idea. Between neighbors, between people and the land, between who lives here now and who comes after. These guidelines aren't limitations. They're the blueprint. And I think it's the model land development has been waiting for."
— Don McLean, River Trails Co-Founder + Developer
