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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.
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.
We were 1st time Minneapolis riders this year. We chose this trail to hopefully see some of the river, the falls, and get to downtown. We started at Fort Snelling and rode North. While we were unloading and setting up there was a steady stream of riders coming from the south. We finally watched a couple of the riders pick up their bikes and take walking trails down to a path that might have gone onto a bridge crossing the river. We were never sure. One commuter we spoke to, asked, "How long do have? Because you can ride forever in Minneapolis." Very true. This trail is well marked and well traveled. Always off the road, but crosses quite many. I enjoyed the energy seeing how well used the trail system is in town. We rode the to be able to cross the Stone Arch Bridge, then we turned and came back South to the fort. I'm surprised the trail hasn't been rated in while.
We started in Wayzata. There is a trailhead and parking VERY close to the lake near Depot Docks, but somewhat hard to find. Free parking reserved for those using the trail in the middle of otherwise permit parking. There is still a small detour on road, but I think it was only 1/2 mile extra, and probably 1 1/2 miles on road total on bike lanes.
We really enjoyed the ride around the lakes and the small towns. When the trail gets out to the Westonka Recreational Park area, you are in the country. It is a nice shaded summer ride. St.Bonifacious is about half way and a good place to stop for lunch. We were actually on our way back to Wayzata when we stopped for a late lunch. The towns out towards the west end had places with signs greeting bikers, but not much activity was visible. Good luck to them. It seems as of August 2017 the last mile is still gravel.
This was pretty diapponting - I tried to access the trail from the end coming from Duluth. The first entry was not possible as there was gate saying "Private Property - Restricted".
I tried to access at two later points but found the trail totally overgrown with plants - no chance to ride. Probably this was a good trail in the past but it is not anymore. After 1 hour of trying I gave up.
No idea if that trail is better in other parts, this probably only covers the first 5-10 miles - but here it does not really exist.
Gorgeous scenery from prairie flowers, forested areas, and of course the river! Hearing bird songs, seeing deer, squirrels, butterflies, caterpillars, and yes, a few harmless, small, snakes. This is biking in a gorgeous natural area with wildlife. And in Cannon Falls there are swans and ducks. This is a trail you have to ride and the current $4.00 fee is well worth it (MN DNR does not maintain so Red Wing & Cannon Falls use fee money to maintain trail). Many nice rest stops with gorgeous views. Marshall Memorial rest area at Belle Creek is one of our favorites. Nice flat, easy grade makes this an easy ride for any level of biker.
The trail is currently closed while it is getting a complete makeover.
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