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This trail is beautiful and I've biked it often commuting to work (and run it). However, I'm very frustrated by the lack of connection to the trail - I understand the steep gradient presents a challenge but some stairs near Lexington and 13 would change my life and quite a few other people I've talked to. In part because the connections are few and far between, the trail is both isolated (halfway down a cliff) and can feel dangerous if you're by yourself and encounter a weirdo or two, which I have. Lighting would help, but ultimately better connectivity to 13 and making it a more-traveled route would improve my experience on this trail immensely.
I ran 7.5 miles from the southern trailhead in an effort to get off the pavement and into the woods. The landscape was beautiful, but the going was tough. This was partly my fault since 95% of the trail was still covered in snow/ice, but this trail is primarily snowmobile/ATV use (I passed a couple ATV groups who nodded politely as they passed, no doubt thinking I was crazy or lost or both). The portions of trail not snow covered were rutted and uneven making even these stretches difficult.
Overall not great for trail running. I'll experiment with other sections, but unless you have a fat bike I wouldn't recommend this lower section.
This is some serious bike infrastructure! Easy to commute throughout the city. Perfect for weekend exploration.
Beautiful wooded area-- smooth trail.
This trail has varied terrain and lots of side trails as well. If you encounter illegal ATVs on the trail you are to call 911. That is what the park security has directed us to do. We had to report several ATVs to the police in Nashwauk. The police already seemed to know who it was, they did not require to see the photos of the law breakers.
I needed to drop off some papers for my son in Maple Grove so we decided to get in a bike ride in that area. I searched Maple Grove, MN and discovered the Medicine Lake Regional Trail. The closest parking for us was at Fish Lake park. We went south out of that park and quickly discovered it WAS NOT a rail trail. My wife only lasted about 4 miles before she had enough. Our total bike ride was less than 8 miles although she can usually do between 20 and 25 miles. I just now checked and the trail is marked "non-RT" which I am now sure means that it's not a Rail Trail. The trail itself was okay for me although going south put us in a residential area rather than in the woods. Maybe going north would have been better but I'll never know now.
We are from Missouri in our 60's and look for rails-trails (preferably paved) where we can stay comfortably along the trail and park our car in a safe location. In Sept 2017 we stayed at a resort in Backus MN before riding and arranged a 4 day ride from Backus to Bemidji and back, which would result in about 30 miles per day. Weather was unusually warm on day 1, but misty for the rest of our tour. Fortunately it rained only at night while we were under a roof. Day 1 we biked to Walker, a town on shore of Leech Lake with a brief stop in Hackensack for breakfast. On the way to Walker, rather than taking the Shingobee shortcut, we took the Paul Bunyan trail through the Chippewa Forest, which is not a rail-trail- it is a paved mountain bike trail with some steep sections for 9 miles before joining up with the Heartland rail-trail into Walker. But that Chippewa stretch was well worth it, beautiful scenery. We stayed at Walker Hotel, nice facility with good breakfast about 3 blocks off the trail. Anyone interested in outdoor sports must go to the Reeds sports store in Walker! (about 6 blocks from hotel but no biking stuff) And there are nice tourist shops and a brewery in Walker. Then on to Bemidji on day 2, with a brief stop at the LaPorte grocery, as there aren't many places to stock up on that stretch. Contrary to previous reviews, we found the trail in Bemidji to be well marked all the way to the new bridge over highways to our hotel, which is close to the lakeshore park where statues of Paul Bunyan and Blue Ox and downtown stores are. Lots of good shopping and restaurants in downtown, check out the cooperative store and the Bemidji Brewery, maybe also the Minnesota Nice Café. Day 3 was back to Walker with a stop for pizza at the PoppleBar in LaPorte. Day 4 we took the Shingobee shortcut out of the southeast corner of Walker, to connect with the Paul Bunyan back to Backus. Note that the Shingobee also has some short but very steep sections. Overall, the trail was well maintained, no bugs, only a few sections of bumpy roots, and we met some nice folks. Will come back to do the southern section of the PB trail someday.
My son and I rode this trail in early August, from Grand Rapids up to Giant's Ridge. We did a self-supported bikepacking trip, camping overnight for two nights along the trail. This gave us plenty of time to see the sights.
It is a glorious trail to ride! It's well used by the locals, generally very well marked and maintained, and really a delight to ride. Other than three or four 8% grade hills, it is not a strenuous ride. The hills are generally quite short so that other than those few bigger hills previously mentioned, a beginner rider could easily do this trail. There is a section of the trail just before Biwabik that is on the road/hiway, and so this section may not be suitable for a beginner.
A word of caution for those camping and/or riding the entire trail: There is no water source at any point once you leave Grand Rapids - no pumps or spigots. Plan to carry plenty of water or be prepared to find a spot in one of the many towns the trail goes through to beg for water (the bars were quite accommodating)! Also, the only actual campsite area was just off the trail in Buhl. Otherwise, camping is limited for bike-packers. I highly recommend this trail for the ride experience and for the history lesson on Minnesota's iron range. There are many support mechanisms in place as well, for those that need it, including shuttle service. Well worth the WheelPass!
We used panniers to carry our things and did laundry along the way. But if you don’t want to do that you can use the shuttle service Dennis at Embracing Pines provides. He also has a terrific B&B right along the trail you can stay at and get shuttled to a different stop each day.
First Day:
Flew to Minneapolis / St Paul and took the Executive Shuttle to Brainerd / Baxter MN. Shuttle driver was great though and dropped us at LifeCycles where we rented bikes (pre-arranged since their rentals are in Nisswa) – call and talk to Zach the owner. We rode the 2 miles to our hotel and stayed at the Baymont Inn. Dinner was at the Boulder Tap House the first night and they have 36 beers on tap and have avocado fries – so delicious. Staying at the Arrowhead Lodge would have been better since the shuttle drops there. Hunt around for the trail on Google Maps – you have to cross 371 – be careful. Rode 10 or 15 miles on the trail and checked out the small town of Brainerd. Lots of food establishments.
Second day
Rode 47 miles from Baymont Inn in Baxter to Crow Wing State Park and on to Nisswa. Walked around a little bit of the tourist shops and saw a Barbie collection and other nostalgic items. Drank a flight at Axe Brewery and learned that they play 18 holes of golf on the lake here in the winter. Each hole has a restaurant or brewery to taste and there are thousands of people. Ate pizza at Raffertys. Stayed in the Nisswa Hotel right there and the owner is Bob. Right after you leave Nisswa there is a Laundromat literally feet from the trail in Pine River about 5 miles north of Nisswa. There is another one in Backus just after Pine River.
Third Day
Rode 32 miles to Hackensack.
Stayed in Hackensack at the Owl’s Nest hotel. Right in town there is a statue of Paul Bunyan and his girlfriend Lucette. Also a beautiful etched marble bench. Owls Nest motel is small but clean and generally ok. Ate spaghetti at Lucette’s Pizza of course. Dinner was at Udom Thai and then breakfast the next day was supposed to be at Joe's Vittles. Those are the three best restaurants here and there are only like 5. One is called Butts and Buns and the other is Char Broiled. At Char Broiled the food looked really good too and they have lots of beer on tap and allow you to try them with a flight. We also keep seeing signs for a meat raffle. Weird. Also in every town there is a water tower with the town name on it. This is a very small town and not nearly as nicely kept as Nisswa.
Fourth Day
Rode 39 miles to Park Rapids
Left Owls Nest at 8:30 after skipping Joe's Vittles due to a steady drizzle of rain. We rode 38 miles through the Chippewa state forest. The forest section is 9 miles or so and slightly hilly and very beautiful and remote. Made our way to Park Rapids by turning onto the Heartland Trail. We made a point of stopping in Akeley to see the memorial to veterans and an enormous statue of Paul Bunyan. Arrived in Park Rapids at the Red Bridge Inn and host Chris was there to meet us. You can see this B&B from the trail. Chris and Robyn are the hosts. Chris was so wonderful and brought our bikes and us inside. Let us do laundry and helped us with getting settled. This is definitely the place to stay in Park Rapids. We ate a quick lunch at Subway and ate a terrific Mexican dinner at Vallartes. Relaxed the afternoon away with tea in this beautiful B&B.
Fifth Day
Rode 28 miles to Walker MN after an enormous breakfast at the Red Bridge Inn. Stopped in Dorset (lots of restaurants) and Nevis (giant fish statue) and Akeley (home of the largest Paul Bunyan statue and a museum. We saw a small beaver swimming in one of the many lakes. Arrived in Walker and stayed at Chase on the Lake. The resort is beautiful with flowers and the town is kept up. We found three tall cryptmaria like bushes against a bank where there were a hundred or so finches chatting. Very cool. We went to Portage brewery and had a sampler flight and a stout pint. They use wild yeast and this is the best beer ever. Then we went to the Superone grocery store and got dinner. There are a lot of restaurants in town – but we were tired out.
Sixth Day
Rode 32 miles
Next day we rode the Shingobee connection trail and then came back to town. We got a Subway sandwich and rode an hour or so towards Cass Lake. Turned around at mile 38 or so (11 miles from the lake) and came back. Took great photos of purple martins. Ate dinner at Zona Rosa. It was definitely only one or two stars. Got more breakfast and snacks at SuperOne. Walked around town and looked in the little shops – but this town closes up early.
Seventh Day
Rode 32 miles to Bemidji
After leaving Walkter we stopped in LaPorte and bought water and ate snacks and the grocery there makes lunch and is very good. Rode to Bemidji and rode through the college town and along the lake. Stayed at the Country Inn and Suites literally 20 feet from the trail. Had beer in the hotel bar called JJ’s (great) and rode bikes to Dave’s pizza for a veggie pizza and spaghetti and it was super. There is a brewery and Tara Bemidji restaurant we really wanted to try but they were closed that day. There is also a very cute B&B in town called Lake Bemidji B&B but we didn’t stay there. Rode back and after sunset the bugs were horrible so we used the guest laundry. Tomorrow we go back to Brainerd on the shuttle with Dennis from the Embracing Pines B&B.
Eighth Day
Rode the 26 miles again to Crow Wing State Park from Baxter / Brainerd.
Ninth Day
Used the Executive Shuttle service to return to Minneapolis Saint Paul airport.
Went from Rushford to Whalen and the trail was in great shape. It was the first time I was on a trail in Minnesota. Great first impression. Will try other half after Whalen and the harmony trail next.
UREKA!! The trail has been repaved! Not just an overlay, a complete dig-up of the old crap and about 4 +/- inches of new stuff laid down. It's really great. Smooth as a baby's behind.
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