Emily Blind Lake ATV Trail & The Chisholm Trail
THE EMILY BLIND LAKE ATV TRAIL
For many years, the Emily-Outing Trail in Crow Wing County dead-ended in the City of Emily, and the Blind Lake Trail in Aitkin County dead-ended at Blind Lake. That all changed on September 15th, with the grand opening of the Emily Blind Lake ATV Trail. It connects the two trails at their south ends, creating a 75-mile loop with a wide variety of terrain.
The new 16-mile connecting trail features a 200 ft. elevated steel bridge, five puncheon bridges, and a selfie station and picnic table at a scenic stop. It also creates access from the Blind Lake Trail to food, fuel and lodging in the Emily area. All this is thanks to the hard work of the Over The Hills Gang ATV Club: eight years of meetings with local and state officials, permits, approvals, funding applications and construction —1500 hours of volunteer labor by members of OTHG with help from eight other ATV clubs.
Over 100 people attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony in Emily, then rode in a procession of 60 vehicles on the new trail to the shelter on the Blind Lake Connector for lunch. “We need more designated trails, that’s why this one is so important,” said State Representative Dale Lueck (10B). Enjoy this great new trail and the large loop it creates. Ride it safely and responsibly. Show your appreciation by joining the club at overthehillsgang.org, or stuffing a few dollars in the jars found at the local businesses when you ride the new trail.
THE CHISHOLM TRAIL
A FUN & SCENIC RIDE ON THE IRON RANGE
Written by Perry May, president, Over The Hills Gang; ATV MN State Director
The power of ATV Minnesota is clubs working together, networking, and creating great and safe ATV riding experiences.
Each year, the Over The Hills Gang and Cuyuna Iron Range Riders ATV clubs get together to explore a new Minnesota ATV trail; there are over 70 to choose from. This year’s selection was the Chisholm Trail, a 16-mile route beginning in the City of Chisholm and running north into the Sturgeon River State Forest. Some of our club members had ridden this trail in February, when the Northern Traxx ATV Club hosted its annual Polar Bear ride. We contacted the club, which maintains the trail, to get some summer riding tips. Club member Greg Christensen was excited to host our ride. He offered to bring us on the new, 4-mile, Hibbing to Chisholm connector running by the Redhead Mountain open pit mining area and intersecting with the Redhead Mountain bike trails.
On Saturday, August 28, 2021, 38 people in 25 vehicles gathered at the Christensen home just east of Hibbing. We also had ATV MN members join us from the North Metro, Prospector, and Lake of the Woods /Roseau Sportsmen’s Club, for a total of six clubs coming together for a ride. The 4-mile connector took us down some county roads, natural surface trails and into the Redhead Mountain area. We made a stop near the open pit mine that was surrounded by red, ore-colored rock and filled with a beautiful aqua-colored water below. The trail traveling high along the rim of the pit provided some spectacular views.
The connector brought us into the town of Chisholm, where we rode through the public streets before making the connection to the Chisholm Trail. Most of it is a natural-surface trail that winds it way through the Sturgeon River State Forest, along with various grade changes. We made a lunch stop at a large, covered trail shelter on the northern part of the trail, just in time as the rain began to fall. After lunch we continued north and hooked up with the Taconite State Trail, which runs east toward the Big Aspen trails in the Superior National Forest. Although we could have kept riding east, we picked a place to turn around and ride over to the small town of Side Lake. Then we rode south on St. Louis County road 5, before jumping back onto the Chisholm Trail and back to the Christensen’s place near Hibbing. It was a good 82-mile round trip, with some help from mother nature to keep the dust down and provide a little water on the trail. We also discovered a couple designated play areas along the trail for some members to try out their technical riding skills. Many thanks to host Northern Traxx ATV Club, president Larry Folstad, and hosts Greg and Marilynn Christensen. If it was not for the efforts of club members initiating this new trail connection to Hibbing, we would not have experienced the open pit mine and the three different connecting trails. The ATV-friendly cities of Hibbing, Chisholm and Side Lake made for great memories and an open welcome to come back. We will!
