National Trails Day

Trail Opening Celebration with Hikes and Bridge Replacement Project Planned for National Trails Day, June 7th, 2008

Each June, trail groups across the country celebrate National Trails Day. The day is organized by the American Hiking Society to highlight the importance of trails. This year’s theme is “Join Us on the Trail.” SHTA is holding two events to celebrate the day on Saturday, June 7th, 2008.

The first event is the official trail opening and three hikes on the new section of trail built northwest of Two Harbors in 2007. This event, which begins at 10:00, is being co-hosted with SHTA by the Lake County Demonstration Forest Committee and will be held at the trailhead parking lot at the Donald D. Ferguson Demonstration Forest. The Demo Forest is 400 acres of land with numerous trails that highlights past history along with natural features and forest management information.

There is no pre-registration required for the hikes. Here is the schedule:

10:00: Short speeches and a ribbon cutting to officially open the trail. Then a choice of two hikes: The first hike begins with a group car shuttle to the trailhead at Rossini Road and a 6.2 mile hike back to the Demonstration Forest. The hike features gently rolling hills and several creek crossings and small ponds – nice wildflowers too!

The second hike features finding geocaches at the Lake County Demonstration Forest – if you’ve ever wondered what this sport is all about, now is your chance to try it!

12:30-2:00: Free lunch for all participants featuring brats, potato salad, chips and beverages.

2:00: A 2.5 mile loop hike on the Demonstration Forest trails – easy hiking and a chance to learn about wildlife openings, wetlands, the Knife River, and various tree stands.

Directions to the Demo Forest Trailhead: At Hwy 61 milepost 26.0, turn left (north) on Co Rd 2 (Hwy 2) and go 3.0 miles, turn left (west) on Co Rd 12 (Hwy) 12 for 2.5 miles, turn right (north) on Holm Rd for 0.5 miles, turn left (northwest) on Drummond Grade for 2.5 miles to parking lot on right.

The second event is a project to replace the existing aging bridge at Indian Camp Creek north of Lutsen. Volunteers will haul lumber in, take out the old bridge, and build the new bridge.

You must pre-register for the bridge building project by calling or emailing the SHTA office by Thursday June 5th. Phone number is 218-834-2700 and email is hike@shta.org. Meet at 9:00 a.m. at the snowmobile trail parking lot. At Hwy 61 milepost 99.0 watch for brown snowmobile sign on right and turn left into snowmobile parking lot.

Back to Events