Willard Munger Trail Information

www.munger-trail.com

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Logging Miles

Bicyclists on the Willard Munger State Trail in the 2003 season.

Bicyclists on the Munger trail follow the tracks of local history.

Text and photography by Maureen M. Smith

As we biked the Willard Munger State Trail last May, we coasted down slopes spangled with white blossoms to wide-open views of Lake Superior. Our tires slapped the pavement, like the sound of an old steam engine chugging. Wind piped through our bike frames, like a train whistle blowing.

The sounds made it easy to imagine the historic trains that once roared along this route, carrying loads of lumber and passengers. The railroad first connected St. Paul and Duluth, and once delivered survivors from the disastrous Hinckley and Moose Lake fires.

But those trains stopped running long ago. All that remains of the original railroad is six miles of tracks, with a lone passenger train that takes tourists curving and rocking along the St. Louis River in summer. Bikes and rollerblades leave Duluth on a straighter paved trail, where the railroad ran near the turn of the century. Near Carlton, the paved trail rejoins the original railroad route to Hinckley.

When we saw the junction of the biking trail and the tracks, I marveled at this intersection of past and present. Later I’d examine historic maps to see which railroad route really came first.

To explore this human and ecological history, to glimpse scenery the first rail passengers saw, I wanted to bike the whole 70-mile trail. My trip began on a Greyhound bus, with bike in a box and handlebars jutting out like antlers. My partner, Mark, joined me in Carlton to bike to Duluth and back over a weekend.

As we biked, it looked as though spray-paint gods had speckled the woodsy hills with trillium. We spotted woodpeckers and fox holes; we distinguished gray-barked aspen from white-skinned paper birch.

Quaking aspen leaves fluttered like chimes in the breeze. Musical streams and brooks wove through surrounding ravines. Stout young cedars and taller firs grew out of rocky crags.

Watch your speed on the trail!

All trails are now groomed and reported in good condtion

Minnesota's 20,000 miles of snowmobile trails

offer a wide variety of environments. In the northern part of the state, the trails wind through snowy woodlands dotted with lakes and streams. The central region of Minnesota is wide-open prairie, while the southeastern bluffs feature limestone cliffs. Minnesota's trail system runs from the state's more densely populated areas all the way to its remote, sparsely populated wilderness, providing sledders the opportunity to either get away from it all, or go for a quick ride close to home. There are plenty of small towns along the trails offering food, lodging, equipment rental and other services.

The most scenic and best-groomed snowmobile trails in the Midwest await snowmobilers on Minnesota's Iron Range. We offer more than 2,000 miles of excellent, groomed and well-signed snowmobile trails.

Our extensive trail system winds across a variety of terrain and breathtaking northern Minnesota scenery. With over 500 lakes and rivers in our region, these frozen waterways also provide exceptionally scenic northeastern Minnesota riding opportunities.

The Willard Munger State Trail

is a collection of multiple use trails between Hinckley and Duluth. It consists of interconnecting trails offering hiking, bicycling, in-line skating and snowmobiling. It highlights the picturesque scenery and rich history of East Central Minnesota. The trail follows the route of the railroad that saved many lives in the historic Hinckley and Cloquet fires in the nineteenth century.

There are three different trail segments in the Willard Munger State Trail: Hinckley - Duluth segment, Alex Laveau Memorial Trail and Boundary segment.

The 63 mile Hinckley - Duluth segment of the Willard Munger State Trail is now completely paved, making this the longest paved trail in the world. The trail extends between Hinckley, Willow River, Moose Lake, Barnum, Carlton, and Duluth. The trail passes near Banning State Park, through Finlayson, Willow River and General C.C. Andrews State Forest, and through the spectacular scenery of Jay Cooke State Park. The northeast portion of the trail provides scenic views of the St. Louis River and the twin ports of Duluth and Superior.

One of the longest trail rides in the state awaits riders of the Willard Munger Trail named after the state representative that served West Duluth for 43 years supporting many environmental and recreational projects throughout Minnesota.

The southern segment of nearly 55 miles, from Hinckley north to Carlton, and the northern segment of about 15 miles from Carlton north to Duluth provides bikers a wide variety of experiences from gambling to rock outcroppings, state parks and lakes.

The southern segment, known as the Hinckley Fire Trail, goes though Finlayson, Willow River, Sturgeon Lake and Moose Lake.

Side trips can be made to Sandstone connected to the Munger with its own part-trail, part-road route and three state parks: Banning, St. Croix and Moose Lake.

Nearly all of the trail is flat and straight on the bed of abandoned railroad right-of-way, although there is one spot (M15) the trail takes a dip and curves. The trail crosses several bridges, skirts ponds, crosses rivers and goes through the woods; there are also a couple stretches that parallel a busy highway.

The last 3.5 miles into Carleton were recently paved and takes riders through a mix of wetlands, woods and even rock before skirting logging operations.

Highlights along the trail, beginning at Hinckley