Who Was Responsible for Removing the Shoes from the Kalkaska Shoe Tree?

Yeah - who got rid of Michigan's best shoe tree?
Was it a local trouble-making resident?
No, it was none other than the Michigan Department of Transportation.

Kalkaska has – or I should say had - an awesome shoe tree. So awesome in fact, that it's listed on Google Maps. There are a good handful of shoe trees throughout our state and Kalkaska had the best. Some people believe there's something evil about 'em or they're connected with a serial killer or some other sordid urban legend. 99% of the time, they are simply harmless fun.

MDOT believed the Kalkaska tree was not harmless or fun anymore.

Get our free mobile app

Sitting along US-131 north of Kalkaska, this shoe tree finally met its untimely end. An order was handed down by the Michigan Department of Transportation to remove all footwear from the tree. Why?

Safety issues and the health of the tree.

According to MDOT spokesman James Lake via Mlive, the threat to the tree's health points to “the weight of the shoes combined with the laces, girdling the branches of the tree which causes them to die. Then they’re in danger of falling into the roadway. If the tree were to die completely then there’s the danger of it falling into the roadway as well.”

Plus, travelers pulling over to add their own shoes or take selfies “can be a hazard as well.”

Looking at the photos, it appears that MDOT crews began trimming the tree and taking down all the footwear in 2022. There were so many pairs of shoes, boots, and other forms of footwear that three pickup trucks were needed to remove them all.

Now, the tree sits bare with a new “don't litter” sign in front of it, hopefully to discourage anyone to throw more shoes up there.

Think it'll work?