Trail Overview
This trail is a designated OHV route, consisting primarily of well-maintained gravel, although some sections are bumpy. It winds through the landscape with a few gentle climbs and descents, and several smaller trails branch off from the main route. One of these side trails provides access to the lake. The area can be busy with side-by-sides and ATVs, particularly on weekends, so it's important to drive cautiously and stay alert. There are no formal or dispersed campsites along this trail, and it lacks services such as trash disposal and water. Cell coverage is limited, so checking your onX app in advance is advised.
History
Covering more than 1.6 million acres of glacial lakes, red-pine uplands, and sphagnum bogs, Minnesota's Chippewa National Forest lets motorists experience the North Woods at an unrushed pace. Paved state highways soon yield to a lattice of numbered forest roads, most of them well-graded gravel that thread between kettle ponds and stands of towering white pine, the tree that helped earn the forest its 1908 designation as one of America's first national forests. The forest harbors one of the highest breeding densities of bald eagles in the continental United States, and patient drivers often glimpse loons, black bears, and white-tailed deer as they move from shoreline to clear-cut regrowth and back again.
