Find the top rated geocaching trails in Cloquet, whether you're looking for an easy short geocaching trail or a long geocaching trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a geocaching trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
_0_st.jpg)
_165661_st.jpg)
_119410_st.jpg)
_53412_st.jpg)
_178156_st.jpg)
_22070_st.jpg)
_198365_st.jpg)
I rode for 3 days on the Mesabi trail the last week of July, 2026. The section from Tower to Ely is the ONLY one I would recommend. Pavement was well-maintained, signage was good. Variety of landscapes and interesting stops. Lots of rollie-pollie fun! Also highly recommend the bicycle-friendly Vermillion Park Inn B&B in Sudan. Great pizza at VI's in Biwabik, and ice cream in Sudan.
I would not recommend the remaining trail: Grand Rapids to Tower: to say the least it was poorly maintained and lacked signage, leading to wrong turns or missing parts of the trail.
I ride many trails around the country, and can say that this section of the Mesabi is the worst experience I have encountered.
Four of us (2 couples) rode from Hinckley to Duluth and back over 4 days. Weather was perfect. The paved trail was awesome despite several “bumps” from expansion joints in some sections. Overall the trail is well maintained- Thank You! Did not see much wildlife - few deer and grouse. Spent night at Barnum at Northwoods Inn as our “halfway” point. In Duluth stayed at the very convenient Willard Munger Inn at the end of the trail- awesome place with very friendly owner. Great stop in Carlton for a park with bathrooms. Have lunch at Streetcar Kitchen & Pub - delicious food!! Overall a great ride with natural beauty and several options for photo opportunities. Would definitely recommend.
We left Duluth and biked 5 miles out. On the way back, we found a few geocaches. Very scenic.
Thought we’d try the northeastern half of the trail starting at the Lakewalk 26th Ave. parking lot next to the Circle K, riding toward Brighton beach. Far away We turned around at 48th because it was such a bumpy ride, interrupted by so many street crossings, and in heavy use at 3:00 on a week day. Not the serene ride we were looking for. We’ll try the other half soon.
The trail between Buhl and Mountain Iron is some of the worst trail I have ever been on. Needs major attention.
My husband and I rode the Mesabi trail in early September. The maples were just beginning to change and fall was in the air. It’s a beautiful well-maintained trail. We liked the variety of up and down, something you don’t always get on a strictly rail trail. The small towns along the way are charming. However, know that you are often riding on streets and some towns have better signage than others. Notes from SpiketheBiker were especially helpful. (Referenced below.) We are 65 year olds who ride in Colorado and Wyoming with hills and wind. We usually do anywhere from 20 to 40 mile rides 2 - 3 times a week. We bikepacked from Grand Rapids to Ely in 3 days, (loaded with 20 lb panniers) staying in campgrounds most nights. We did get rerouted around Giant’s Ridge due to work on the trail and ended up just riding the highway all the way into Tower (25 miles). It had an OK shoulder most of the way, but would not recommend riding it with weekend traffic. It was hard to find many details about the trail online until I found SpiketheBiker’s post on Trip Advisor dated June 26, 2023. A big shoutout to them. The post was helpful and accurate. Several had mentioned a long 8% grade hill which had me a bit concerned, but never really said where it was and I never figured it out either. There are definitely some leg burning hills, but the only one that caused me to stop several times was one on the highway to Tower, other than that the others were manageable and I didn’t think terribly long even riding loaded. Our favorite part was between Tower and Ely. It is the newest and smoothest section. Absolutely beautiful at the top by Eagle’s Nest where we did see a bear, but it seemed more scared of us than we were of it. We stayed at Itasca County Fairgrounds in Grand Rapids, Chisholm Iron Trail Campground in Chisholm, and Hoodoo Campground in Tower (although the Vermillion state park might have been a better choice because you don’t have to leave the trail and it’s less expensive, but also no showers). A big shoutout to Ron and Lara in Ely for the warm shower and bed. Also recommend Brainstorm Cafe in Ely for coffee/tea/smoothies and bakery goodies. Yum! Highly recommend the Mesabi Trail even though it’s not a rail trail per se, it is just the right amount of challenge. There are also plenty of entry points to do out and backs if you don’t want to do the whole trail.
We had ridden the Munger Trail from Jay Cooke campground to the Skihut near the Spirit Bike Park and Ski Hill and a clerk in the store told us about this trail as an alternative to get back. We loved it. In that direction it’s mostly uphill, so be young and fit or have an e-bike like we did. The ride is through beautiful birch forests with views of the St. Louis River. The entrance is through the paved parking lot near the ski lift and then further up and to the right on the gravel lot. At the entrance of the trail signs warn of rocks and jumps, but that refers to the groomed mountain bike trails off to the side in the first mile or two of the trail. None of that is actually on the trail.
We rode from the campground at Jay Cooke State Park almost to the trailhead in Duluth. We stopped at the Skihut Adventure Center store right near the trail—about 13 miles. The pavement was reasonably maintained with cracks having been repaired. The few bumps were marked in orange. We were riding hybrid bikes and had no issues with surface quality. It’s fairly level in this section and wide enough that we were able to ride 2 abreast most of the time. There is a section marked closed for repairs, but everyone just rode around the barriers with no problems.
Rode the trail the week of August 11, 2025....rode from Virginia to Biwabik, Virginia to Chisholm, Hibbing to Keewatin, and Tower to Ely. Tower to Ely was by far the part of the trail that was in the best condition...the others were a bit rough in spots. Tower to Ely had a couple good climbs in them. Thought the signage for the trail could be better. There are places to go to the bathroom along the way, although not always that frequent. However, if it's a hot day...make sure you have enough water as there are no spots to fill up.
Signage to trailheads is poor or non-existent. Although this trail is listed as wheelchair accessible, it is not a smooth trail and gravel is fairly rough. I did not see any asphalt. The first mile or so from the western trailhead at Becks Road is shown on the on-site map as mountain biking and mostly OK for hybrid bikes but rough. The connection with the Willard Munger Trail has no signage at junction
Rode the trail from Tower to Ely and back. The best ride I have done. Smooth path and curvy, hilly route. Great ride! Next day planned to ride from Hibbing to Naswauk. I made it to Keewatin and turned around. Trail is cracked, has quite a few roots and lots of weeds. The trail passes through in a couple of small town streets and they were horribly cracked and rough. I then ride from Hibbing to Chisholm and back. That was quite a bit better. 5 stars for Tower ride 1 star for Kewatin ride.
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (a non-profit) and we need your support!
Scan the QR code to get TrailLink on your phone
Map Search
