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Aitkin County to get ATV trail
Outdoors Editor A new 85-mile off-highway vehicle trail was approved Tuesday by Aitkin County and the DNR.
When linked with existing trails, the new trail will give riders of all-terrain vehicles and off-highway vehicles nearly 500 miles of trail to ride in northern Aitkin County and southern Itasca County.
"This is an exciting opportunity," said Brian Napstad of the Aitkin County Board. "We have other trails in the area, but nothing like this. People will be able to park their vehicles at a variety of locations and access hundreds of miles of quality trails."
The new trail will run from near Hill City and Jacobson south toward McGregor, said Ron Potter, DNR off-highway vehicle coordinator. Construction is expected to start in the spring of 2008. Before construction the counties must complete an environmental assessment worksheet and have public meetings, a process that that takes about six months, Potter said.
"I don't anticipate it will take that long to build ," Potter said of the new trail. "We're not talking about a 20-foot-wide snowmobile trail, but an OHV trail about 6 to 8 feet wide. They'll use a lot of old timber management roads."
Potter added that a good network of ATV trails already exists in the area, including the old Soo Line and Rabey Line railroad grades.
The first step in the process will be to recommend a trail location and design, said Forrest Boe, director of the DNR division of trails and waterways.
"There's nothing definite yet as far as location is concerned," Boe said. "The public will help design the trail and determine where it goes."
Before approving the project the DNR considered proposals from St. Louis County and a joint proposal from Roseau and Lake of the Woods counties. The Aitkin-Itasca proposal was chosen because it has the best available land, a suitable level of readiness and good public involvement, Boe said.
The new trail will satisfy a 2003 requirement from the Legislature to build a continuous 70-mile trail somewhere in Minnesota. It accompanies the forest reclassification and recreational trail designation process currently under way in Minnesota's 58 state forests.
VINCE MEYER can be reached at vince.meyer@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5862.
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