brainerd riding

[arctcknight]

im going to be in brainerd soon for a quasi working vacation and am looking for any good riding there may be in the area. im looking for any DJ's, trails. any help would be greatly appreciated.

[TrailPatrol]

Ryan,
My two suggestions would be Washburn Lakes Trail in Land o' Lakes State Forest, which I have ridden and really like, and Pillsbury State Forest, which I have not ridden yet. You can get maps for both at the Brainerd DNR office. If I remember it right, Washburn is 20 miles NE of Brainerd, in a non-motorized part of the forest, and Pillsbury is 20 miles west. You might try Scott Mitchell, leader of the Brainerd Lakes MTB Patrol. (He is a partner at Nelson-Mitchell Advertising, they are in the phone book.) Scott may be able to give you some advice.

Ride safe,
:banana:
Hans

[GearDaddy]

Pillsbury State Forest is probably the closest. There's a main loop there which is a pretty wide double-track trail that is shared with horseback riders. It's wooded and gently rolling. You can ride it pretty fast, but of course there are sandy sections due to the horses. There are other trails there, but I'm not sure if they are open to biking.

I hear that French Rapids, which is just south of Brainerd along the Mississippi, has some challenging trails, but I haven't ridden there. I have ridden at Wasburn trails, which are to the Northeast near Outing, and they are basically X-C ski trails. I'd say it's kind of laid-back riding, where the north trails are pretty flat and the south trails have a few hills.

Otherwise, you have to go a bit further out to places like the Martineau trails near Akeley/Walker (lots of trail here), or up towards Grand Rapids at Sugar Hills, or possibly the North Country Trail that runs roughly east-west across Cass county south of Leech Lake. That's what I know of.

[TrailPatrol]

The last time I rode the North Country Trail, (I should say tried to ride) three weeks ago, it was so overgrown in the area between Mable and Milton Lakes as to be impassible by bike, and even difficult by foot. We have a patroller who lives in Longville and he has not reported it having been mowed yet, although our USFS coordinator told me it was supposed to be mowed every year.

The south trails at Washburn have some big problems with beaver and wind downed trees. The DNR forester I spoke with said that they are open to biking, but basically they suggest horses stay on the south side and bikes and hikers stay on the north. I haven't ridden Pillsbury or Paul Bunyan, but the trails there are all open to mountain biking. Alden Patton from the MORC Patrol has ridden some at Paul Bunyan State Forest and said the riding there was really good.

We (the Backcountry Trail Patrol) are working with the US Forest Service, MN DNR and local resorts and associations to try and build a CAMBA-like system in north-central Minnesota. Let us know your comments on the trails you ride, and we will pass them on to the right people up there.

Ride safe,
:banana:
Hans

[jeffgude]

The Paul Bunyan State Forest trails were great when I was there, though that was several years ago. The trails were created by moto-x but were good for biking, but be careful that you don't get lost.