DNR to pave north end of Heartland Trail next summer

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

Nov. 4, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

The state Department of Natural Resources plans to pave the northern portion of the Heartland State Trail from Walker to Cass Lake next summer, while constructing a second, unpaved trail intended primarily for snowmobiles.

DNR plans call for a $1.2 million project that provides room for an 18-mile alternate trail in addition to the existing Heartland Trail that will be paved. About four miles of the trail would consist of a dual treadway, where a paved portion of a trail sits alongside an unpaved portion of a trail.

The section would resemble the 28-mile section of paved and unpaved trails on the western segment of the Heartland State Trail between Park Rapids and Walker, according to DNR Regional Trail Planner Tony Walzer.

The earliest construction on the northern Heartland Trail would begin is late next spring, Walzer said, and the project should be completed by next fall.

"Our intent is to be under construction this summer," he said. Adding that if the project is not completed next year, the DNR may lose some federal funding.

The Heartland Trail from Walker to Cass Lake was supposed to have been paved two years ago but was delayed because of the snowmobile track stud controversy. It is illegal for snowmobilers to drive machines with studded tracks on paved state trails.

So when it was announced the northern segment of the Heartland was to be paved, snowmobiling enthusiasts got upset.

The alternate trail system was designed to alleviate snowmobilers' worries and to satisfy those, such as bikers and walkers, wanting a paved trail.

The new plan will feature a 10-foot-wide blacktop surface on the abandoned railroad grade between Walker and Cass Lake, which is now the current northern segment of the Heartland Trail.

At Cass Lake, Walzer said, the existing paved trail will be extended one mile south to the Pike Bay Loop Road where the paved trails will be joined, allowing bicycle riders to travel all the way into Cass Lake. The U.S. Forest Service's Mi-Gi-Zi Trail around Pike Bay will also connect to the Heartland Trail at this intersection.

On the south end of Heartland, the unpaved, or alternate, trail will be constructed alongside the paved trail for the first four miles -- from Walker to the bridge at Kabekona Narrows on Leech Lake.

After that, the paved trail surface will continue on the abandoned railroad grade and the rest of the unpaved, grass-covered trail will be brushed out and constructed on the edges of both railroad and Minnesota Department of Transportation highway rights of way along Minnesota Highway 371.

From spring to fall, the paved trail will be open to non-motorized use, including bicycling, hiking and in-line skating. The unpaved trail will also be open to non-motorized use, including hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding.

Walzer said it is most likely that only the unpaved trail will be groomed for snowmobile use in the winter. The DNR made the same decision for this winter on the Heartland Trail between Walker and Park Rapids, citing monetary and safety issues.

"To groom both only increases the cost for snowmobiling groups," he said. "And I don't know if the snowmobiling groups have the equipment or people to groom both."