Redhead New Mountain Bike Trails on Minnesota’s Iron Range
By Gary Sjoquist
A decade in the making, Minnesota’s newest mountain bike destination opened with an initial 15 miles on the grounds of the Minnesota Discovery Center (MDC) in Chisholm last June. At Redhead, riders have been ripping, railing and sending it with rave reviews, and in 2021 there’s even more to come to the fledgling trail system in the heart of the Iron Range. THE BACKSTORY Redhead joins Cuyuna and Tioga as mountain bike trail networks built from abandoned mines. “It’s spectacular,” Benji Neff, President of the Iron Range Off-Road Cyclists (IROC) said. “At Redhead, you ride down into an abandoned mine, on trails etched into the red rock walls.”
According to IROC member Pete Kero, Redhead began as a shared dream between local riders. “We began thinking about using Redhead for mountain biking 10 years ago,” said Kero, an environmental engineer who lives in Hibbing. “We’d peek over the fences to see the red rock walls and pit lakes, and it seemed like an awesome place to go riding,” he said. He knew they’d have to overcome obstacles. “We talked to the property owners,” he said. “They said it was impossible because of state statutes. Using abandoned mine sites was illegal for recreation. That was our first dilemma.” But Kero and others were persistent, and thanks to help from St. Louis County, former Minnesota State Legislator Jason Metsa, and current State Senator David Tomassoni, the goal of repurposing Redhead’s abandoned
mines for recreation continued to gather momentum. Helping their cause was the well-documented economic impacts in the Cuyuna Lakes and Duluth areas brought by mountain bikers. In 2018, the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) voted to invest nearly $5 million into building mountain bike trail networks at three locations on the Range. Tioga, near Cohasset, received $625,000 to develop a 30-mile system of trails. Redhead received $1.77 million to build 25 miles of trail, and another $2.5 million was provided for 37 miles of downhill and cross-county trails at Giant’s Ridge. “Trail systems like the Redhead have great potential to significantly impact our region,” said Mark Phillips, IRRRB Commissioner. “The Redhead trail can add to the quality of life for local residents, attract tourism spending, and be a
All photos Minnesota Discovery Center 8 Spring 2021
Minnesota Trails
