Saddlebagging Minnesota?

[Deleted member 10829]

55..its a complete joke

I agree! It's nice to have wide smooth trails, but it's no fun to go 55 or 60. To me, my riding time is half ruined as you're always worried when you may get pulled over. Can you imagine a 55 mph speed limit in the UP? No wonder traffic is low up there.

 

[POLARISDAN]

yea its overkill..especially on lakes..wi 50 at night is correct..but during the day is a joke..which is why we only ride ditches and trails way out west were enforcement is nil..we stay off all state trails and especially lake Minnetonka area..and we do not do 50..sorry..way it is

 

[ragex2]

is the 50 mph limit heavily enforced? mostly just a weekend thing in popular areas?? or anytime-anywhere?

 

[xcr440]

is the 50 mph limit heavily enforced? mostly just a weekend thing in popular areas?? or anytime-anywhere?

I've seen the DNR out there, and I have heard of people getting tickets even in the south metro of the Twin Cities. Ironically, weekends only. Traffic demands patrol, keep that in mind.

 

[bearrassler]

is the 50 mph limit heavily enforced? mostly just a weekend thing in popular areas?? or anytime-anywhere?

Almost 50 years of riding MN, never been stopped nor has anyone in my group been stopped. I do know a few who have gotten tickets but not many. I have broken the speed limit a couple of times.

 

[skiroule]

Thank you BR. I guess between the two of us we’re approaching 100 years of riding in northern MN and I‘ve never seen a DNR sled or checkpoint. Some of the posts here would suggest that one is riding into enemy held territory. It's really not that bad.

My apologies to Switch, the intent of his post wasn’t to start yet another discussion about the speed limit in MN. It’s old news.

 

[Deleted member 10829]

I almost made a post at 1:30 a.m. but thought I should sleep on it, glad I did.

I do think it's very important for someone that sounds like it will be their first trip to northern MN to know the speed limit. I know I would want to know, especially if you're used to WI and MI speeds.

I know guys that have been stopped enough that it is in the back of their minds and puts a damper on things worrying about it.

Now, if we could keep every post on exact topic, we'd be set. I could apologize on almost every post.

 

[zimmer1310]

Link below to the DNR site that I use.


http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/snowmobiling/maps.html

 

[elf]

We've put on 15000 miles in NE MN in the last 7 yrs and have ran into the DNR once. They were at a road crossing during St Urhos weekend in Finland. So I think the whole speed limit thing is over blown. Besides that, most trails up there are twisty enough that its a non factor

 

[switch07]

Thanks for all the ideas on the trip guys. Here is what I came up with for a rough draft, do you think it's doable?
Probably start in Eagle River
Saturday- Eagle River to Grantsburg
Sunday- Grantsburg to Ely MN
Monday- Ely to Roseau
Tuesday- Roseau to Bemidji
Wednesday- Bemidji to Moose Lake
Thursday- Moose Lake to Hurley
Friday- Hurley to Eagle River

Keep in mind the cities listed would be area's, maybe there or someplace close.
The later legs of the trip maybe shorter legs, but we may be more beat up and tired then,lol.
We would like to tour the AC and POO plants or museums if available.
If anyone has any miliage ideas for this, please chime in.
Hoping only to make hotel reservations for the Grantsburg and Hurley nights.
Also we would like to get some local trail maps with supporting businesses on the back to use for fuel, food and lodging. Who can I contact for local maps for this route?
What do you guys think? Thanks again for all the help guys....

Switch

 

[skiroule]

Looks like you have a pretty good mix of long days and short days. You're really the best judge of your groups riding stamina and you can always adjust.

If you want to PM me a mailing address, I can send you a local club map of the Lake of the Woods area - covers most of the area between International Falls and the Roseau county line and has a lot of local info.

 

[skidont]

Boy I hope you got time off work or are laid off for after the trip , I would say your going to be in the 1500 mile area . I know from a ride in 2009 to hurley and back to North branch Minn was 595 miles for me

 

[oldguy]

This is a rough estimate. During the week on some of the northern MN trails you may not see another sled to ask were you are. The best bet is to stay on the corridor trails. They are marked with a 5" by 5" sign telling you the direction you are headed and the corridor number. Top off your gas tank as much as possible.

day 1 220 miles
day 2 330 miles
day 3 350 miles
day 4 215 miles
day 5 200 miles
day 5 230 miles
day 6 100 miles

 

[switch07]

Seeing those numbers, we may have to adjust our route a bit. Not sure we want any 300+ days. We may wind up leaving closer to MN instead of Eagle River. The whole point of the trip is to ride MN trails as we have been covering WI and MI trails for years. Thanks for the info guys, I will go back to the drawing board and look it over again. I'll be in contact to those who offered for more info. Thanks again......Think Snow!!!!!

This is a rough estimate. During the week on some of the northern MN trails you may not see another sled to ask were you are. The best bet is to stay on the corridor trails. They are marked with a 5" by 5" sign telling you the direction you are headed and the corridor number. Top off your gas tank as much as possible.

day 1 220 miles
day 2 330 miles
day 3 350 miles
day 4 215 miles
day 5 200 miles
day 5 230 miles
day 6 100 miles

 

[xcr440]

Seeing those numbers, we may have to adjust our route a bit. Not sure we want any 300+ days. We may wind up leaving closer to MN instead of Eagle River. The whole point of the trip is to ride MN trails as we have been covering WI and MI trails for years. Thanks for the info guys, I will go back to the drawing board and look it over again. I'll be in contact to those who offered for more info. Thanks again......Think Snow!!!!!

If you want to shorten that up, and you are coming from Green Bay, take 29 across to 53 north, and pick a destination off there, like Spooner or the Solon Springs area. That will save you a full days ride on each end, and make the drive in the vehicle VERY easy, 65mph+ all the way.

 

[CrossfireLOW]

Here is my 2 cents.

Your plan to ride from ely to roseau in one day would be a back breaking endurance run. It doesn't even sound enjoyable. A nice route, but to try and do that all in one day seems crazy. Its 239 miles by road!

If I were you here is what I would look at doing...
Start at Two Harbors, there is a large lighted parking lot a few miles out of town right on the north shore trail. Starting in Two Harbors eliminates having to negotiate riding around Duluth, a big pain in the butt.
Day 1: Two Harbors to Grand Rapids Area
Day 2: Grand Rapids to Bemidji Area
Day 3: Bemidji to Thief River Falls
Day 4: Thief River Falls to Roseau
Day 5: Roseau to IFalls
Day 6: IFalls to Ely
Day 7: Ely to Two Harbors

Doing this way the distances are a little shorter which would allow you to explore some the spur trails and small loops along the way. The corridor/railroad grade trails are great for covering distances but can get boring if that is what you have to ride all day just to get to your next destination.

I dont know if you could get tours of Cat and Polaris and cover those distances on the same day???

 

[skiroule]

Before I saw Oldguy's estimate, I looked at the route again and also did some estimating. My estimate ended up being within 5 miles of his. I knew the Ely to Roseau leg would be a long one but when I really started adding up the mileage it was even longer than I expected.

I like CrossfireLOW's plan. Very do-able and does allow for some side activities. There is really no significant backtracking so you are always riding in new territory. You could do it in reverse order, if you choose to do so.

 

[switch07]

I like that plan also and will take it up with my buds. I had no idea of the distance between the cities I chose. They all look so close on the map, lol. Thanks for all the help. We do not want a marathon, we would like to enjoy the scenery and check out the local flavor. 200 or so a day would work for us. How far from Duluth is this parking area, safe, lit up?

 

[gade14]

What is cost of out of State trail permits and are there plenty of locations to purchase?

 

[elf]

I like that plan also and will take it up with my buds. I had no idea of the distance between the cities I chose. They all look so close on the map, lol. Thanks for all the help. We do not want a marathon, we would like to enjoy the scenery and check out the local flavor. 200 or so a day would work for us. How far from Duluth is this parking area, safe, lit up?

Its about 25 miles from Duluth to the parking lot in Two Harbors.