Minnesota’s school trust lands are largely open to the public for responsible recreational activities including boating, camping, hiking, hunting, mountain biking, off-highway vehicle (OHV) use, rock hounding, skiing and snowmobiling.
Public access, however, may be restricted when school trust lands are under a contract to generate revenue for K-12 public education. Common examples that limit access include mineral exploration and active mining, timber sales, grazing contracts, communication towers, and aggregate development.
Because school trust lands are reserved to support the state’s education system, restrictions may result in alteration of public access routes and removal of recreation infrastructure to allow for economic development. They may also necessitate temporary or permanent closure of certain lands to the public.
There are countless outdoor recreation opportunities on Minnesota’s school trust lands.
Whether you’re looking for a rustic campsite or a more developed campground with cleared sites, vault toilets, fire rings and picnic tables there are 24 options available on school trust lands. Most are located within Minnesota State Forests and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Thousands of miles of cross-country skiing, all-terrain vehicle (ATV), off-road vehicle (OHV), off-highway motorcycle (OHM) and snowmobile trails traverse Minnesota school trust lands. Local partners and clubs maintain many of the snowmobile trails under a cost-sharing program dating back to 1973 while the Great Minnesota Ski Pass program provides funding to maintain cross-country ski trails. ATV, OHV, OHM and snowmobile trial users provide revenue to the trust for the lands the grant-in-aid trails cross.
Nearly all 2.5 million acres of school trust lands are open to public hunting in Minnesota’s State Forest system mainly in the NE quadrant of the state and in designated Wildlife Management Areas in the NW quadrant.
School trust lands host 170 public water access sites. These sites provide Minnesotans with excellent access to lakes, rivers and streams throughout the state. They range in amenities from the fully developed Lake Superior safe harbor marina at Knife River to a rustic carry-in canoe launch on the Crow Wing River in Wadena.
To ensure that these recreational opportunities remain available to current and future generations, we encourage all Minnesotans to recreate responsibly on school trust lands while remembering that revenue-generating activities take precedence on these lands.