REGIONAL— A proposal to create a border-to-border off-road vehicle trail across northern Minnesota is in the initial planning phases, according to Mary Straka, with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ parks and trails division.

The trail location is far from certain, although Ron Potter, a representative of the National Off Highway Conservation Council, who is consulting on the project, said it’s likely to start somewhere along the North Shore before winding its way to the North Dakota border.

“We’re staying away from putting lines on a map,” said Potter. “That makes people nervous.” One thing is for sure, said Potter, the trail isn’t going to follow a straight line. In other words, it will be about the journey and the adventure along the way, rather than a destination.

Potter hopes the new trail will link interesting historical sites and other features of interest, as well as communities interested in providing services to the users of the trail. He said he’ll be meeting with county boards, townships and other small communities across the region in the coming months to gauge interest and to get ideas for interesting places to link through the trail.

“We want an interesting adventure that families can take,” Potter said.

The Minnesota Four Wheel Association first suggested the concept as a way to provide an interesting, multi-day riding opportunity for its members. According to Potter, a number of western states have similar “adventure trails” that are increasingly popular with off-road users.

The trail probably won’t involve much new construction, but will rely, instead, on existing limited maintenance forest and logging roads. The trail would be designed for highway-licensed, high clearance vehicles, like jeeps, land rovers, rather than ATVs or dirt bikes, according to Straka. Whether ATVs would be allowed depends mostly on the current classification of the roads included along the route, she said.

Because the trail would rely on existing routes, it’s overall cost to construct would likely be somewhat limited, although Straka said some loop and spur trails to various points of interest could require new construction. Otherwise, she said, the trail’s expenses would mostly be for planning, mapping, and signage. Funding for the trail work would come from the dedicated OHV fund.

The trail will occasionally emerge from the backwoods and back roads to connect with communities along the way, where trail users can access cafes, filling stations, grocery stores, and lodging. And some communities are already expressing interest in the idea, hoping to attract trail users to their area. Potter said the economic impact could be significant for those communities near the trail. “This is really a growing activity. We anticipate it will get quite a bit of use.”

Straka agreed. “This type of a back road touring trail is very unique. It would be the first of its kind in Minnesota.”