Regional Trails grants assist with the design, engineering and construction of various types of trails.
Contact: Jim Plummer, Jim.Plummer@state.mn.us or 218-274-7006.
Grant Cycle Dates: July 1, 2024 - May 31, 2025.
Eligible applicants: Cities, townships, nonprofits, counties, tribal governments and governmental entities created pursuant to Minnesota Statutes located within the agency's service area. The applicant or collaboration partners must be the current or intended property owner with control of the property.
Multi-organization collaboration is welcomed.
Voyageur Country ATV Club completed two trail enhancement projects as part of a larger effort to build a regional system of wooded ATV/snowmobile trails and corridor routes connecting the communities of Cook, Orr, Buyck, Crane Lake, Camp Five, Cusson, Ash River and Kabetogama. Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation supported the project with a Regional Trails grant to Saint Louis County. The first project enhanced a 1.9-mile stretch of trail located north and west of Myrtle Lake along the Arrowhead David Dill Trail corridor near Crane Lake Township. Ditches, culverts, additional gravel and trail hardening improved the terrain and created safer sightlines. A new snowmobile shelter and rest area with picnic tables and a fire ring were added along the trail. The second project enhanced a 6-mile snowmobile link connecting the resort community of Crane Lake with the United States Forest Service Vermilion Falls Recreation & Picnic Area. Culvert and trail hardening improved the link, which is connected to a 256-foot elevated boardwalk over a beaver pond area that was constructed in 2020. Voyageur Country ATV Club is based in Crane Lake and oversees the ATV and snowmobile trails from International Falls and Orr to Ely and Cook. It is one of three area ATV clubs that are collaborating to fully connect their trail systems. When fully completed, 1,000 miles of ATV trail will be linked and span across northeastern Minnesota, making it one of the largest interconnected trail systems in the nation.
