Dust Off Your Mountain Bike

Spring 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.

CUYUNA

After squeezing in a refresh of the Yawkey unit trails last fall, the Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Crew is adding even more miles to the existing 30-mile system. According to their Facebook page, the Cuyuna Conveyor will be a 3.25-mile, easy-rated link between the Yawkey unit and the city of Cuyuna, groomed for fat bikes in the winter. The Cuyuna Cruser will be a totally new experience with its own trailhead. This eight-mile trail near Long Lost Lake should be a “backcountry experience” featuring an advanced-rated oneway loop with no winter grooming. Another expansion will happen in the Maroco unit, northwest of the current Mahnomen cluster, where another eight to ten miles will add to the Cuyuna experience. Look for them to be built in 2020, beginning with the Cuyuna Cruser. By the end of 2022 the Crew hopes the system will have grown to 70 miles.

TWO HARBORS

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.

TOFTE-LUTSEN

up the North Shore, The Tofte Connector Trail will likely be renamed when it offi cially opens later this year, but that’s just a minor detail. It will run approximately 17 miles from the Britton Peak Mountain Bike Trails 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.

ELY

Harold Langowski, clerk, treasurer and operations director for the city of Ely, has seen the traditional Boundary Waters tourist numbers decline and is excited about expanding options with a new mountain bike trail system in town. The area around Hidden Valley Chalet is better known for its ski trails, but after a push from the local ski club, lots of fundraising and a tremendous outpouring of support from locals, the city completed a one-half mile mountain bike skills loop there, with great reviews. “It was a good springboard into our efforts into establishing the rest of these trails,” Langowski said and added that construction of an additional nine miles of trail is planned for 2020. Langowski thinks there is potential for more. “With the trails that are built at Giants Ridge, Chisholm, Cuyuna and Tioga, we looked at it as an opportunity that northern Minnesota could become a real mecca for mountain biking,” he told me. “Stay tuned, there’s much more to come from Ely,” he added.

COHASSET

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.

CHISHOLM

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 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 fl at and now it’s this big canyon,” she said and she’s looking forward to the offi cial 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 fl ux, a grand opening celebration may take place in September.

BIWABIK

Giants Ridge in Biwabik will also expand their offerings this year. Their existing lift-served gravity fl ow 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 fi ve 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.