Decades after putting foot to pavement to create the system, Dowagiac’s Ron Gunn is looking to put the city’s 8 miles of outdoor trails on the map — an international map, at that.

Gunn has spent the last several months working to get the local trail system, located on the grounds of Southwestern Michigan College, Dowagiac Middle School, Rotary Park and Rudolphi Wildlife Refuge, as a recognized Volksmarch trail, an internationally recognized classification of walking paths. If the application is approved and the course certified, the trail system will become just the second such one in the state to become a part of the American Volkssport Association, an affiliate of the International Volkssport Federation.

“This will be the crowning achievement for the trail system,” Gunn said.

The former SMC instructor and coach has had his eye on turning the trail system into a Volksmarch for the last 15 years, after it was suggested to him by a student. However, it is only been recently that has renewed his focus on the project, Gunn said.

The Dowagiac man was the first to see the potential in turning then mostly vacant grounds near Dailey Road outside the college into a space for runners and hikers when he was first hired at the community college in 1967, Gunn said.

“I was looking for a way to use a trail for hikes and cross country,” he said. “And I was looking to lose some weight at the time, so I wanted to use it myself.”

In the years since, he worked with nearby property owners and other outdoor enthusiasts in the area to expand the trail system to well beyond just the college grounds. Today, the trail spans around 8 miles, with several access points, taking travelers from the prairie grass fields outside the college to the wooded confines of the Rudolphi, Gunn said.

“It’s one of the most beautiful spots in all of Cass County,” he said, remaking about the woodland trail.

Unlike many trail systems of its size, the path takes travelers along one large connected loop, meaning people can traverse the entire thing without having to backtrack or travel to a different access point, Gunn said.

If the system becomes a designated Volksmarch site, people will be able to register any walks or runs they make on the trails. Travelers will be able to sign up at a number of local businesses, and will have to fill out a short questionnaire about the sights they seen while walking the trail to prove they in fact walked on it in order to receive credit from the AVA, Gunn said.

With the city also focusing on expanding the current trail system with its property along the Dowagiac Creek, now is as a good as time as ever to focus on getting the trails a Volksmarch designation. While it won’t see a huge daily boost in usage, having the Dowagiac system join the AVA should bring additional attention to the trails and the community, Gunn said.

“This will give us a lot of publicity, and galvanize the whole thing,” he said. “It get us into a good program.”

Gunn is hoping to get the trail certified in either late summer or early fall, with the designation becoming official by next spring, he said.