Minnesota Trails

There isn’t a better way to see Minnesota than on a bicycle built for two.

The Superior Hiking Trail (SHT) extends, almost completed, from Jay Cooke State Park 285 miles along the Lake Superior North Shore to the Canadian border. It has been dubbed “The second best long trail in the nation” by Backpacker Magazine. But there are numerous great single day out-and-back hiking options, too.

           I’ve been dreaming of canoeing the chain of crystal clear mining and natural lakes at Cuyuna Country Recreation Area ever since I rode their paved bike trail in 2006. The old Cuyuna mine was abandoned some 30 years ago and became a 5,000-acre recreation area in 1993.

There isn’t a better way to see Minnesota than on a bicycle built for two.

            That’s what Louise and Jeff Davis of Seattle, Washington, told friends when they returned home from a five-week bike tour of Minnesota’s bike trails with an extra two weeks across Wisconsin.

There isn’t anything much more American than spending the 4th of July weekend at a state park.

While simply going for a hike, a bike ride, or a paddle is a sure-fire way to have a good holiday weekend, the parks will also have lots of programs to offer.

From live concerts to boat parades, we’ve picked some of the most promising events scheduled at parks across Minnesota this Independence Day.

Keep reading to find the program or event that's right for you and your family!

I’ll be honest:  When my review copy of "Prairie, Lake, Forest: Minnesota’s State Parks" arrived in the mail last week, I was caught by surprise.

Push, Pull, Ski, Mush and Eat! One wonderful weekend on the Gunflint.

Our weekend began with our little Honda with brand new (but woefully poor) tires getting hopelessly stuck on the perfectly plowed driveway to Cabin 3 at Bearskin Lodge. My wife, Judy, and I were thankful Bob McCloughan, Bearskin’s owner, came to the rescue and pulled our Honda up the two percent grade.

28 Miles of New Superior Hiking Trail 

The Superior Hiking Trail Association is

unveiling a 22-mile section of trail near

Two Harbors on September 1, 2009.Rudi Hargesheimer writes about this 

new trail and an additional six-mile section that will probably not open until 2010.

By Rudi Hargesheimer- Feature Writer

Lucky me! Gayle Coyer, Executive Director of the Superior Hiking Trail Association, offeredt

o provide me with a “sneak peek” shuttle for a 28-mile backpacking trip on the newest sections of the Superior Hiking Trail (SHT) around the backside of Two Harbors. 

Ranked as the “Second Best Long Trail in the Nation” by Backpacker Magazine readers, the 205 miles of Superior Hiking Trail from Lake Country Road 301 northeas

t to the Canadian border is spectacular in its beauty with panoramic views from high ridges and cascading waterfalls plunging down deep canyons.

But the area south of Lake Country Road 301 had been an enigma since the SHT was first built. Although at first there was no obvious route to take around Two Harbors, determined SHTA volunteers spent years pouring over maps, speaking with landowners, scouting the woods, and hanging pink ribbons until a path around town began to take shape.

By: Don Davies, St. Paul Bureau, DL-Online

ST. PAUL – Mike Kilgore says the green Minnesotans pay in a higher tax beginning Wednesday will mean a greener Minnesota in a year.

Minnesota forests will stay green, prairies will turn greener and some wetlands will return to their green state thanks to a sales tax increase voters approved last November, Kilgore said.

The increase, upping the state's portion of the sales tax from 6.5 percent of purchases to 6.875 percent of purchases, is to provide money to clean up the state's water, protect and restore wetlands and prairies, support parks and trails and preserve arts and cultural heritage activities.