I have never rode in Minnesota and thinking of taking a trip there for a change instead of Northern Wi or MI. I live in Western WI. Can someone give me advise on a good area to go? Looking to put on 100-150 or so miles a day. Either staying at the same place every night or a 3 or 4 day backpacking trip. Any good information will be greatly appreciated. Thank You in advance. THINK SNOW!!!
Minnesota Trip
- Thread starter kecogaty
- Start date
bearrassler
Active member
MN has a big variety of riding types, I would recommend staying north of Hwy 2 and east of Roseau and Thief River Falls. Would you like remote areas, or areas with lots of stops. I am very familiar with most of northern MN except the North Shore and Duluth area. If you give a little more information there will be a few on here that will give you some ideas.
dragon_700
Member
If your thinking north shore area stay in either silver bay area or tofte.You can base right from those locations and head in several directions from there and easily put 100-150 a day.You could also backpack up to grand marais or even grand portage area.All depends on conditions at the time?
There is also two harbors which would be a little closer but conditions can be iffy?
There is also two harbors which would be a little closer but conditions can be iffy?
Throw a dart where there's snow, and base from there. No real issues with food and fuel stop distances as long as you don't drive past a gas station below half a tank.
The north shore is a good place to find good scenery with great trails. Depending on where you are in Sconnie, you could ride there in one day.
The north shore is a good place to find good scenery with great trails. Depending on where you are in Sconnie, you could ride there in one day.
dragon_700
Member
Gas no problems in area just fill up when you have chance.
we stay at american inn in tofte.nice place gas station next door.
silver bay we stay at mariner.pretty basic motel ok.theres also an american inn in silver bay.
gas right there also.silverbay has some nice local trails and easy access to north shore trail.
we stay at american inn in tofte.nice place gas station next door.
silver bay we stay at mariner.pretty basic motel ok.theres also an american inn in silver bay.
gas right there also.silverbay has some nice local trails and easy access to north shore trail.
You'll be lucky to see a speed trap outside of a few lake trails (Vermillion is a big one). Most of the gustapo's will be sitting at trail intersections watching for you to make your complete stop (Clearly visible as you approach) and checking trail passes (Be sure to get a MN sticker!).
CrossfireLOW
Member
Speed limit is not much of a concern outside of Voyageurs National Park. Inside the park they patrol quite heavily, but that is the Feds patrolling, not local.
Studs aren't a concern for northern Minnesota either. I am not aware of any paved trails north of US highway 2. I think even the few paved trails in the rest of northern half of the state have no stud restrictions.
This type of question about first time trips to Minnesota seems to come up about once a year. If you look through some older threads about northern mn riding the info still applies.
Studs aren't a concern for northern Minnesota either. I am not aware of any paved trails north of US highway 2. I think even the few paved trails in the rest of northern half of the state have no stud restrictions.
This type of question about first time trips to Minnesota seems to come up about once a year. If you look through some older threads about northern mn riding the info still applies.
bearrassler
Active member
I thought Ventura took the stud law and put it where the sun don't shine after saying MN is home to 2 snowmobile OEMs mfg now 3.
I think he took away the permit you had to buy to run studs, there are very few trails left that don't allow studs and there are usually alternate trails nearby. As far as the speed limit is concerned I have ridden over 50,000 miles in MN, many at speeds far greater than 50MPH and have zero tickets. I don't think I have ever even been stopped to check for registration. The North Shore is a great area but if you are interested in a four day backpack trip with the miles you mentioned I would start in the Tofte or Silver bay area and take two days to go over to International Falls and two more days working my way back. You would see some great scenery and a lot of lakes.
"Can someone give me advise [sic] …"? Well, I can advise you that you came to the right place for advice on where to go!
(In anticipation of seeing a reply from you suggesting "where I can go"!)
"I have never rode [sic] …"?
See (click →) Conjugation of the English verb to ride. [Hey, that's a valuable web site, I'll have to file that link away for future use!]
[Don'cha just love English grammar? (I had two "Finnish 'Grammers' [sic], " both of whom spoke perfect English and Finnish, and I loved 'em both!)]
"Thank You in advance."
You're welcome!
(Nothin' personal, kecogaty, I 'jes gots' [sic] a reputation to uphold here, as a pedantic, curmudgeonly old English professor!)
In the immortal words of Julius Caesar (translated from Latin): "I came I seen, I conquered!"
[English is a dying language!]And of course …
As far as studs go, most alt stud trails around here (Cloquet area) the DNR has no money to maintain them so they are closed which means you can run studs on paved trails, they can't deny you access to a trail if they (the DNR) aren't providing an alt route, please correct me if I'm wrong though.
Mtkaboater
New member
I live in the Twin Cities and ride North Shore trail every year as it is the most beautiful and generally well maintained trail. Don't worry about studs -- their are not many trails that don't allow. I stay at the Mariner in Silver Bay because it is very clean and cheap. The owner/operator is a piece of work that you need to get to know. I also like to stay in Tofte or Grand Marais. The Gunflint trail gets remote and sometimes not groomed as good, but if it is groomed, it is awesome. I have rode to Grand Portage but this is best if you are going to stay overnight there as it is a hike. But the trails in the reservation if groomed are some of the most beautiful in the country. Not much signage in the reservation either. Trails around Finland/Isabella are excellent too. In general, trails in Northern MN have much less traffic, less bar stops, less signage, less road crossings than trail in WI.
dragon_700
Member
great place to base out of.depending on conditions you may find the snow a little thin coming out of american inn but once up on hill things change dramatically!!Some years you have to trailer up the hill to lot but that is usually pretty rare.ride that area alot in winter and summer!!
I have to agree---And this area is my favorite area to ride. The trail from the gunflint to Grand Portage is only 40 miles, so get gas at the Trestle Inn and you should be good to go. My question to you would be---If you live in western Wisconnie why not trail ride the whole distance???
We toured MN a couple years back and had a blast. A big thanks to our JD friends from MN for all the info. We started at Moose Lake, ran up the North Shore for a couple days, over the gunfint, up to the boundary waters, and back down to Moose. I chronicled our adventures here on JD so you should be able to find it. There are many trails and unique places to keep you busy for sure. Hope to get back there someday. Good luck on your adventure.