Dust Off Your Mountain Bike
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pring is around the corner and mountain bike trail builders are getting ready for an extraordinarily busy construction season around the state. Many existing trail systems are expanding, and some brand new ones are going to open in 2020.
Minnesota Miles in Tofte to Ski Hill Road in Lutsen. Read the full details in Bryan Hansel’s story on page 9 and let his amazing photos speak for themselves.
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Harold Langowski, clerk, treasurer and operations director for the city of Ely, has seen the traditional Boundary CUYUNA Waters tourist numbers decline Jan Lasar After squeezing in a and is excited about expanding Trails Editor/Publisher refresh of the Yawkey options with a new mountain unit trails last fall, the Cuyuna Lakes bike trail system in town. Mountain Bike Crew is adding even The area around Hidden Valley more miles to the existing 30-mile Chalet is better known for its ski trails, system. According to their Facebook but after a push from the local ski club, page, the Cuyuna Conveyor will be a lots of fundraising and a tremendous 3.25-mile, easy-rated link between the outpouring of support from locals, the Yawkey unit and the city of Cuyuna, city completed a one-half mile mountain groomed for fat bikes in the winter. bike skills loop there, with great reviews. The Cuyuna Cruser will be a totally new “It was a good springboard into our experience with its own trailhead. This efforts into establishing the rest of these eight-mile trail near Long Lost Lake trails,” Langowski said and added that should be a “backcountry experience” construction of an additional nine miles featuring an advanced-rated one- of trail is planned for 2020. Langowski way loop with no winter grooming. thinks there is potential for more. Another expansion will happen in the “With the trails that are built at Giants Maroco unit, northwest of the current Ridge, Chisholm, Cuyuna and Tioga, Mahnomen cluster, where another eight we looked at it as an opportunity that to ten miles will add to the Cuyuna northern Minnesota could become a real experience. Look for them to be built in mecca for mountain biking,” he told me. 2020, beginning with the Cuyuna Cruser. “Stay tuned, there’s much more to come By the end of 2022 the Crew hopes the from Ely,” he added. system will have grown to 70 miles.
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The idea of a trail system in the former Tioga mine near Cohasset was born about eight years ago and construction began in 2018 with 5 miles of trail. 2019 saw a great push, raising the system to its current length of 22 miles. 2020 will add another three miles, which will include a skills section with jumps, as well as a trailhead pavilion. Max Peters, Cohasset city administrator said that a grand opening of Tioga’s 25 miles will happen later this year. By his own informal counts, Peters said, the trail system is already showing just shy of 10,000 annual users and he’s “pleasantly surprised” with how well it’s been received. “As I look across the state, I really think that northern Minnesota is quickly becoming not just a regional, but a national and maybe international destination for mountain biking,” he said.
Farther up the North Shore, The Tofte Connector Trail will likely be renamed when it officially opens later this year, but that’s just a minor detail. It will run approximately 17 miles from the Britton Peak Mountain Bike Trails
Another exciting project on the Iron Range is the Redhead mountain bike trail system, which will bring 16 miles of challenging singletrack to Chisholm’s Minnesota Discovery Center later this
The Donald D. Ferguson Demonstration Forest near Two Harbors was originally established for teaching foresting techniques and has always had access roads and hiking trails. Mountain biking was added in 2001 and now there are about 7 miles of nonmotorized multi-use trails. A volunteer group organized by Spokengear Bike Shop in Two Harbors built two miles of new mountain bike trail in 2019 and they hope to bring the mileage up to nine or ten miles this year. According to Dave Cizmas, Lake County Recreation Forester, the idea is to keep it a more beginner friendly and relaxed trail system. “The plan is to expand it to 15 to 20 miles total over the next few years,” he said.
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year. Donna Johnson, Executive Director at the Discovery Center credits members of the Iron Range Offroad Cyclists (IROC) with getting the Redhead project started eight years ago. “Without them, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” she said. Most of the trails will be on the 660-acre Discovery Center grounds and contained within a mine pit that’s actually 5 separate pits merged together. “The scenery is just magnificent. We call it the ‘Grand Canyon of the North,’” Johnson said. She’s excited about making this former mine accessible to the public and being able to tell the iron ore story and how the property was reclaimed after mining left. “The land at one time was flat and now it’s this big canyon,” she said and she’s looking forward to the official opening with a range of trails from intermediate to expert. Generally, trails will follow the rim of the pit and drop down to the water level. “There’s going to be some trails to get your adrenaline pumping,” she said. She’s hopeful that 2020 will see the construction of another 16 miles, bringing the total mileage to 32. “If everything goes as planned, we hope to have the first 16 miles open this June,” she said and added that the trails, which are on mining company property, are off limits until then. With an exact timeline still in flux, a grand opening celebration may take place in September.
B I WA B I K Giants Ridge in Biwabik will also expand their offerings this year. Their existing lift-served gravity flow trails have been growing since 2017, and Director of Mountain Sports Benji Neff said the future will bring additional downhill runs and singletrack trails. “That would make us the largest mountain bike resort in the Midwest,” he said. They currently offer five gravity trails, one of which was completed at the very end of the 2019 season. This summer, Neff says, up to eight building crews may be working at Giants Ridge to build an additional four downhill runs and about 20 miles of cross-country singletrack. “It’s going to be in the same areas where our current cross-country ski trails are,” he said. He calls this an “ambitious plan” and added, “If we feel we need more trail beyond that, that would be Phase II.” I hope this news from across Minnesota will have you dusting off your mountain bike for the upcoming season. For now, have a look at our mountain bike trail guide on page 13 and watch the snow melt. Minnesota Trails
3/5/20 6:52 AM
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