Saddlebagging Minnesota?

[dickmsp]

I had my top cap covered trailer and new renegade stolen from this parking lot in march of '06. Its about 7 miles north of Two Harbors right on the north shore trail.
Had a beefy lock on the hitch too. Lot is lighted but isolated. Crooks dont need flashlights and can hear a sled or vehicle approaching.
Try parking at AmericINN in Two Harbors or somewhere in town. I avoid two harbors period

 

[switch07]

Maybe if we stayed Friday night at the AmericInn we could leave the trailers there. Good idea, thanks...
I'm assuming the trail goes to this motel?

I had my top cap covered trailer and new renegade stolen from this parking lot in march of '06. Its about 7 miles north of Two Harbors right on the north shore trail.
Had a beefy lock on the hitch too. Lot is lighted but isolated. Crooks dont need flashlights and can hear a sled or vehicle approaching.
Try parking at AmericINN in Two Harbors or somewhere in town. I avoid two harbors period

 

[skiroule]

Switch,

Here's a thought (just what you need, more ideas). Check with the Americinn in Tofte. I have to believe you can get to the trail from their place. It's about an hour or so further north of Two Harbors but it sets you up nicely to take the more northern trail through Ely and up towards Crane Lake/Kabetogama. Plus you get to see a little more of the North Shore area.

 

[steve_in_il]

Off topic...but on topic...I continue to be impressed with how fellow John Dee-ers are so willing to be of assistance! Nicely done...

 

[xcr440]

Switch,

Here's a thought (just what you need, more ideas). Check with the Americinn in Tofte. I have to believe you can get to the trail from their place. It's about an hour or so further north of Two Harbors but it sets you up nicely to take the more northern trail through Ely and up towards Crane Lake/Kabetogama. Plus you get to see a little more of the North Shore area.

There is a trail that leaves right from their parking lot up the hill. There is also an AmericInn in Silver Bay that has a spur to the main system.

 

[Dennis]

Just stay in Moose Lake at American inn.Start and end there.they will let you leave your rig there.If you look at a map you can at anytime get back there if you need to cut trip short.the soo line runs a long way west.But if it was me I would park at Cloquet mn north end of town good parking spot and trail starts there?I would call the chamber to see if its ok to leave rig parked and they have a good police patrol.The nice thing about parking there is if you need to get back to your truck there is a lot of trails that you can get back down to from anywhere in norther part of state.And if someone needs to come back you will most likely take hwy 2 or 53 to get to them.just in case.The other thing is you might not want to leave the northshore and from ely to Grand Rapids has some of the best trails to ride on.Sidelake and down to floodwood if you would like to give me a call I've been riding that area for 28 years.Just adding my two cents.Have a great ride.

 

[dickmsp]

Maybe if we stayed Friday night at the AmericInn we could leave the trailers there. Good idea, thanks...
I'm assuming the trail goes to this motel?

Yes its a few miles but marked well and u have a better chance of your vehicles and trailers being there when u get back.
Plus its next to a big gas station, and McDonalds. And groc store. Actually u may want to go about 20 mn north on 61 to Silver Bay. The Americinn there has a bigger lot, a snowmobile trail tunnel under hwy 61and nice trails up to north shore trails.. Have a great trip, I love saddlebag trips, you see way more country without having to return to the same spot every night.. let us know how it goes!

 

[xcr440]

Wait a minute, we are talking about Minnesota?? There is no snow there, stay in MI or WI. We wouldn't want to lead you astray.

Carry on......

 

[timo]

i was thinking the same thing.

so nice everyone willing to take the time to crunch the numbers for a total stranger.

thank god al gore invented the internet.

Off topic...but on topic...I continue to be impressed with how fellow John Dee-ers are so willing to be of assistance! Nicely done...

 

[HardwaterHoosier]

my back hurts just reading those numbers, but I'd wouldn't shy from taking the trip.

 

[switch07]

I just want to thank everyone for all the responses on our planned trip. You all have opened my eyes with good sugestions and routes. Thanks SKIROULE for the maps you found for me. What a great extended family of friends we have here on JD, thanks John for the site..............Now all we need is SNOW!!!!!!

 

[bearrassler]

I just want to thank everyone for all the responses on our planned trip. You all have opened my eyes with good sugestions and routes. Thanks SKIROULE for the maps you found for me. What a great extended family of friends we have here on JD, thanks John for the site..............Now all we need is SNOW!!!!!!

We have the snow!

 

[elf]

I just want to thank everyone for all the responses on our planned trip. You all have opened my eyes with good sugestions and routes. Thanks SKIROULE for the maps you found for me. What a great extended family of friends we have here on JD, thanks John for the site..............Now all we need is SNOW!!!!!!

The two harbors and silver Bay Area picked up over 30" of snow this week. You'll be good.

 

[switch07]

Well the time has come to get down to business and plan this trip. We have booked the Americinn in Moose Lake to start the trip and to end the trip. We will probably like to start by heading north towards the north shore trails and then loop west. My question is with starting in Moose Lake, where would about a two hundred mile day bring us each day? We may not be able to go all the way to Roseau or Thief River, save that for another trip. We want explore the north shore and towards Ely and north towards international falls area then loop back to Moose. We are leaving Moose on a Saturday and returning on the following Friday. Any ideas on this new idea? Thanks guys....

 

[oldguy]

I think I would head to Tower MN the 1st night, it’s about 210 easy miles. From Moose Lake take the rail bed to Kettle River north to Cromwell to Brookston (marked trail river crossing ), Alborn, Cotton, Eveleth, Virginia, Laurentian trail to Taconite spur to the Iron Ore trail and then into Tower. Good place to stay is Fortune Bay Casino in Tower. From there it’s about 125 miles to Two Harbors on the north shore. There is many other directions from Tower you can go as well. Have fun the trails are great up in Tower currently.

 

[bearrassler]

Since you asked I will give my recomendations. I have never ridden near Moose Lake or on the North Shore area but I would head from Moose Lake north on trail 51 to the North Shore trail (60) and stay the first night either at Silver Bay or Tofte (both have Amercinns), the second day I would loop up to the Gunflint area and back to the same motel for night number 2, day 3 I would head up to Ely, over to Tower and the Lake Vermillion area, then maybe to Orr for night 3, day 4 I would ride up to Voyaguers Nat'l Park and the I Falls area and then to Baudette for night 4, Day 5 I would go to the NW Angle then down to Warroad, back to Baudette, and then south to Blackduck for night #5, day 6 I would ride back towards Tower and stay in that area, and day 7 head back to Moose Lake. I don't think any day would be to bad and you would see a great amount of what northern MN has to off.er

 

[GTL]

Or really push day one and continue up the North Shore trail and take a right another 40 miles to Grand Portage. that is as far as you can get (well almost!) and the rates are cheaper. Day two go play on the Gunflint and work your way towards Tower and Fortune Bay casino. (has a webcam on this site) Day three head towards I Falls (Holiday Inn right on trail) thru the Lakes . Day four either go west even more or start the treck south towards Walker/Brainerd area.

 

[xplorer]

switch07,
I have done parts of this trip on several overnight trips before. Here is my .02 for a loop.

Day 1 is Moose Lake to Grand Marais area via Cloquet, Fish Lake and the North Shore Trail (not around/thru Duluth). I say area because you could stay on top of the hill at one of several places (devil track resort, hungry jack lodge, trail center lodge) or down in town.

Day 2 starts by heading to the end of the gunflint, and then back to the NSST and south to the Tomahawk Trail to Ely. A ride on the Tomahawk is not complete without a stop at the Trestle Inn, about 10 miles off the NSST. If its lunchtime, the Trainwreck, or Trainwreck with casualties, is awesome! Then it is on to Ely and to the casino in Tower on Lake Vermillion. If your up for it, you can take the lake or land trails to the west end of the lake to The Landing. Good food and an outside ice bar in years past.

Day 3 is Tower to Baudette, via Crane lake and the land trails up to Ash River and on to International Falls. All of Voyageurs Park has a 40mph speed limit, and 25 on portages, which is why i prefer to ride the land trails. Plus this year to date there has been a decent amount of slush on the lakes. Then over to Baudette. There are many places to stay there, but, it is a huge ice fishing destination so it may be wise to try to find a room in advance.

Day 4 is Baudette to Roseau via the Northwest Angle. Make a stop at Oak island, then head up to Youngs Bay for a late breakfast. Ride the land trails back down to Warroad however you want, but think about stopping at "The Patch" for lunch. Then over to Roseau. Depending on the time, you could either try get a tour of the Poo plant that afternoon or the morning of

Day 5. Roseau to Bemidji via the north and east shore of Upper Red Lake. Shorter day with options for side trips.

Day 6 is Bemidji back to Moose Lake, again the Soo corridor can make for quicker travel but there are other loops you can explore off of it.

As you can see I am from Cloquet. On your way north you will pass about a half mile from my house. If you look on the MN map there is a small gap when you go north of Cloquet towards Fish lake, just before highway 53 at Grand Lake. I can draw you a map for the route thru this gap. It is only about 3-4 miles and is easy and legal and well used.

I'm envious no matter what routes you decide to take. Safe travels!

 

[Dennis]

I like what a lot of people are saying.Have you thought about going west first.First day head to Grand Rapids.There are many ways to get there but lots of places to stay on a saturday night it also depends if your going for straight distance or to see what a lot of Minnesota looks like.Day 2 head up the taconite trail to tower but don't just try to get to tower head north and hit some of George Washington state forest and after ridding some of that area you can get back on the taconite trail to the casino in tower.(Get your players card you can sometimes get a cheaper room rate on Sunday-Thursday)There stay two nights and leave your stuff and ride up north to Crain lake to Orr and back to tower and if your back early than make the loop ride down towards Embarres and back all great trails.Than on Tuesday head to silver bay going up to Ely than to the American inn in silver bay or to Tofty staying at Blue fine bay or lutsen it's a ski resort but You can snowmobile from there and during the week can get rooms sometime cheaper.The next two days From there just ride around the north shore.Ride up the north shore and along the way there is lots of great views and trail loops to hit.Best time to ride the north shore is Tuesday to Friday The gunflint trail is also a great ride but come Friday head back to Moose Lake.Maybe staying at silver bay Thursday night.Going back on the north shore trail but make sure you go around Duluth go north to Island lake to Fish lake across Grand lake.The trail comes to a gas station on 53 go inside and ask for direction to get to grand lake.You need to go up the road about two miles to the public landing and than across the lake the trail that you need to get to is at the south end of lake from there head to Cloquet.But ask at the gas station if the lake is safe otherwise you can ditch it around lake.Only reason I say that is there is a lot of slush this year and some ice is still thin in spots.If you have a smart Phone down load the app snow trails from polaris it's free.It shows most of what you need.The trail from Cloquet to moose lake will not take long its high grade except for the first 10 miles from Cloquet.The trail going throw Cloquet you might want to study a map of.Any Questions just send me a note and I'll give you my phone number if you would like to ask any questions.Im in Moose Lake most weekends and sometimes during the week.Just have a great time and enjoy Minnesota.

 

[Dennis]

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