Your favorite MN trail??

[Shoot2Kill]

Hello all, I'm pretty new to the forum, just moved to MN from Alaska (the wife wanted to be closer the the family..yes..I know..bonehead move.. ) We live in St. Cloud and are looking for some trails to ride in the north eastern part of the state. A lot of the trails I've read about on the MN DNR HSOforum seem like old railroad lines and we'd prefer something a little more up and down, around, through the mud, etc. What are your favorite trails?

In MN are you allowed to camp right off of ATV trails or are you supposed to be in a designated camp site? We would like to be able to wheel in and camp for the night and come out the next day. Can you do this kind of thing here? Sorry if I sound rookie, but it always takes time to learn a new state.

Anybody know anything about the Stony Spur II trail out of Babbitt? We're looking for trails in that part of the state.

Are there lots of side trails off the main trails that aren't on the maps?

Thanks guys...I'm sure I'll have more questions throughout the summer.

Who's going to the Quadmasters event this weekend in Sauk Rapids?

[SomethingFishy*]

Welcome to Minnesota.

My girlfriend and I will probably be attending the event on Sunday.

[fishinsfun]

Hi, and welcome. I live in Babbitt. The Stony Spur is a nice trail, no mud but it is a fun ride. Mud on designated trails around here is hard to come by. It's out there but I'm sure you don't want to go running around in our wetlands either.

There are a lot of trails around here, but you need to trailer your bike around since there are very few through trails or circle routes. It is rough and remote country that has many wetlands with no crossings. In other words a lot of spur trails. Also, the Forest Service (who administers much of the land around here) restricts ATV's to designated roads and trails, meaning no x-country travel and some high traffic forest roads are off-limits. They provide a map(check the Superior National Forest HSOforum), but it leaves a lot to be desired. The DNR also has trail maps available. Personally, I don't ride many of those trails because I can take of from my house in Babbitt and ride for hours just south of town on mining company land(shhhh!). Good luck, have fun and if you have specific questions about other areas, pm me.

[Dave]

Shoot2Kill,

Welcome to MN and FM. I'll be at the ATV Fair Sat & Sun. See a guy walking around carrying a camera with 10 & 12 year old boys, it might be me.

[Eiger0304]

Try the Reddot, Moosewalk/Mooserun trail up in the Beaver Bay, Silver Bay area. Great trails! Also you might want to try Nemadji State Forest. Its about 20 north of Hinckley. They have a campground right on a lake in the park. Trails over there are pretty much endless. They will connect you over into Wisconsin, Though you'll have to use some R/R grade to get there.

If you want some more challenging stuff, try Spider Lake north of Motley, Lots of up down trails and usually you'll find mud somewhere. This place also has a campground. If you want to travel a little bit try the DNR's ATV park in Gilbet/Virginia. Lot of black Diamond stuff and you ride a trail right to the campground.

You might want to try the Aurora Wheelers HSOforum. They are an ATV club based out of the Northeast. Try there forum page.

[Shoot2Kill]

Thanks guys...great info!

Craig...PM coming your way.

Ooops..none of the PM links work for me to send a PM??? Am I doing something wrong? Craig...can you send me an email at [email protected] and then I will reply to you? I have a few questions for you. Thx!

[Dave]

PMs are not available here on FM. Sorry, you'll have to send emails.

[Shoot2Kill]

Dave, thanks! I thought I was doing something wrong.

[knoppers]

thistle dew in northern itasca county there is a trail system with good camping on thistle dew lake.

[Mark Gangl]

welcome to the forum. Ely/Babbit area has alot of National Forest that is really restricted. There is lots of trails in the Ely area and you can ride from one to the next all day long but its hard to figure out which you are supposed to be on. I am from Nashwaulk and there are alot of minning and logging trails and they connect to each other, lots of miles and I've never had anything said to me about camping on any of that land except boat launches. If you like touring around there is an area with alot of shorter trails some dead end some connect and thats right near Grand Rapids. Thistledew was mentioned and that goes with Bear Lake, I've road up there and there are nice trails up there too. One more trail to add is the Pengilly to Auburn Trail. I've never been on it but now that I got a realiable wheeler look forward to it when the wheather gets better (its 43 miles long) there are areas around that are really muddy and only known to locals (the flats in Nashwauk) and some of the mine hills were featured in 4 wheel magazines but for more of a hill clime/sport reason. there is a cheap campground in Nashwauk or trails to camp down. If you ever decide to wheel in this area I'd be happy to join up and show you around, I'm always up for a ride and looking for new people to ride with.

Mark