Any Good ATV Trails in Southwest Minnesota or Northwest Iowa

[hondarider550]

I am new to the world of atving and am wondering if there are any public atv trails that I could go and try out sometime this upcoming year? If there are maybe I could meet up with somebody to try these trails out. I have looked online but have not come up with anything close by.

[Dave S]

You won't find much worth riding in Southwest MN. The closest to you would be Elm Creek near Trimont, but I wouldn't waste my time. It's a small area that can be ridden in 15 minutes. After that, you're going in circles. I've been there a couple times, but it's tough to enjoy yourself there after a couple hours.

Your next best bet would be the Appleton ATV park in west Central MN, but that would be a few hours to drive there.

If you're into camping, there are 4 areas in SE MN.

The closest would be the Chatfield ATV trail. Next from there would be the SE MN Trail that runs from Stockton to Altura MN.

Then you could hit Trout Valley and Snake Creek between Winona and Wabasha. The SE MN area is very scenic with the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. Trout Valley IMHO gives you the best scenery, but all trails down here are worth checking out if you don't mind driving across Southern MN to get there.

From there, if you want to get into some decent trails, Northern MN will be your next best bet. But for that drive, you'd be best served by heading to the Black Hills which would actually be closer I think than driving up to places like the Nemadji State Forest.

Don't get me wrong, if you're willing to make the drive, you're more than welcome to join us on a ride up here.

[hondarider550]

Thanks Lep. I did see the Elm Creek trail on the map but it did sound kind of short and cheesy.

Our family does love camping so if we could arrange a trip into that direction I think that we could have a great time.

Are there maps or information on these trails that I can get some access to?

How far away from northwest Iowa are you? Do you know? It would be great to hook up with a group of guys with the same interests...

I hunt in the Northeast part of Iowa and that area is truly beautiful so I can imagine how southeast MN must look as well.

[Dave S]

I'm about 2 hours from Spirit Lake or 1 1/2 hours Northwest from Windom, 1/2 hour straight North of Mankato.

The campgrounds are primitive at these areas. I don't have the exact information you need at the moment. But you can access most information at http://www.dnr.state.mn.us. This will get you into trail maps, state parks, and basically any Natural Resource or outdoor activity in MN that is somehow tied with the MN DNR. There's plenty of tabs in the MN DNR site that you can easily navigate your way through.

[hondarider550]

Are there any good trails there by LeSueur or nearby where you guys ride once in a while? Also are they trails that a 94 Suzuki KingQuad 300 can handle? I just bought this machine this winter. Good machine and the price was right.

[reelemin]

 Originally Posted By: hondarider550

Are there any good trails there by LeSueur or nearby where you guys ride once in a while? Also are they trails that a 94 Suzuki KingQuad 300 can handle? I just bought this machine this winter. Good machine and the price was right.

welcome hondarider - 300 KQ - nice machine. I just traded in a 98 300 KG. Loved it, great wheeler, just needed something with more power and better ground clearence.

[Dave S]

The closest thing to me is 45 minutes east. They call it Tri-County Pit. That's exactly what it is, an old reited gravel pit that can get as boring as Elm Creek. At times during the year it can be fun for the sport machines since there's several hill climbs, but nothing major.

I usually have to resort to the ditches around here until April 1st when the ditches close until August 1st to protect nesting wildlife.

[hondarider550]

Well I suppose that I will have to drive a little further then. I would really like to meet up with you guys sometime for a ride but of course it will have to work out with the other priorities...

Thanks reelemin! I really love this machine. I had an 84 Honda TRX 200 that I traded in for this one. I really liked that machine too but it was tempermental in cold weather and only 2 wheel drive. I moved up 9 years and added 4 wheel drive for very little money. I have not regretted it yet...

[hondarider550]

I was wondering if anybody knows of any "unknown" atv trails that might not be listed by the dnr or some areas that would be interesting to travel by atv that are not "advertised. Maybe someone did some trail riding that they would like to fill us in on the details... Let's hear from you...

[Dave S]

there are some trails in existing networks that aren't listed on their site, but might be on some of the updated maps.

years ago there used to be miles of trails on private land that would go for miles. It was never legal then nad isn't legal now. The biggest crackdown came when people were tearing up the land, going off trail, littering, and damaging private property.

My cousins have a gravel pit that used to have close to a hundred riders on dirtbikes on a good weekend. There were too many broken bones and bloodshed that they shut it down. It's too bad, because this pit would draw people from the 5 state area, much like the old Bauer's Pit did down by Faribault.

Ahhhh!!!!! Bauer's Pit, those were the days. 200 machines per day on a good weekend there. Hill climbs, jumps, drag races. Those were the days, sure enough. Sadly though, it's closed. Roy passed away a couple years back at the young age of 96 and loved the company. Even though he almost killed me with a backhoe one day. But that's whole different story.

[hondarider550]

Yea, we had a pit like that too nearby where ppl would ride and even do some fishing in the pit itself. Way too many incidents happening so of course no more... I can agree to why they would put a stop to riding on private ground illegally. I own some ground too and I do not appreciate it when someone trespasses across it.

[hondarider550]

Okay, I have not heard from anybody on this topic for a few days so I want to ask anybody out there about what is your favorite area to ride? Let me know what it is that you like about this location and any other interesting details that you might have...