If it all comes together someday, there will be a 400-mile back road trail from North Dakota to Grand Marais for four-wheel-drive aficionados to enjoy.
Cook County Land Services Director Tim Nelson came before the county board on November 15 with some information about the ambitious project.
“We just sat in on the first round of talks with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR),” said Nelson. “They (DNR) have not even begun to put down any alignment yet. This could be a combination of private and public land linking together roads with spur trails off of them that people could use,” he said.
For now the as yet to be defined path is being called the Borderto Border Trail (also known as the B2B trail).
Mary Straka, Division of Parks and Trails, said the DNR has partnered with the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council (NOHVCC) and the Minnesota Four-Wheel Drive Association (MN4WDA) on this project, which has the potential to bring significant tourism benefits to northern Minnesota.
Straka said the Border-to-Border Off- Road Vehicle Trail is the largest and most ambitious off-road vehicle trail project in Minnesota history.
When decided, the route will link existing state and national forest roads—as well as township roads, and minimum maintenance roads. This trail and its connecting spurs will be available for any highway-licensed vehicle to use.
Straka said the back roads would probably be rough, and vehicles riding them would need plenty of clearance. She said the DNR is in the early stages of planning. As far as where the route will end up, Straka said that would depend upon where the communities want it to be.
Discussions will continue, said Straka, with several more weeks dedicated to identifying stakeholders, defining goals and developing timelines.
Leading the effort will be Ron Potter, a former manager with the DNR’s Parks and Trails Division and a member of the NOHVCC Hall of Fame, and Judy Ness, recently retired U.S. Forest Service manager from the Superior National Forest. They will be setting up a series of public fact-finding meetings along the proposed route to gather input and ideas from locals.
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