Thorpe Tower Road 5.4

Total Miles
3.9

Elevation

541.54 ft

Duration

0.5 Hours

Technical Rating

1

Easy

Best Time

Spring, Summer, Fall

Trail Overview

Thorpe Tower Forest Road 13 runs between Spur I Forest Road 14 and Refuge Road. (Forest Road 17) This also includes the very short section of 12A. Although the name is misleading as the tower is no longer in existence, there is a Class I and Class II ATV trail that does take you to a set of overlooks that is well worth your time. The .75-mile point-to-point ATV trail to the overlook area is off the main forest road and can be bypassed by road vehicles. Note the trail rating changes to a 4 if you adventure in that direction. Thorpe Tower Rd is 5.4 miles long and takes about 31 minutes with an average speed of 10.2 MPH (Does not include time stopped at the overlooks).

Photos of Thorpe Tower Road 5.4

Thorpe Tower Road 5.4
Thorpe Tower Road 5.4

Difficulty

No issues on this section of forest road shared with all types of roadway traffic. Please note, that the ATV Class II and Class II trail to the overlooks change to a 4 rating for rocks, incline, and narrow trail with places to pass once both parties coordinate who can get off the trail. This overlook trail section is only .75 miles one way and can be bypassed or ignored by road vehicles not able to go see the lookouts. The lookouts are only open to ATVs 65" or less, mapped with 60" 2-door SxS and it was tight when meeting class I ATVs.

Technical Rating

1

Status Reports

There are no status reports yet for this trail.

Access Description

This section of the trail was mapped based on the Akeley parking lot at Mill Street and Hillside Ave NW. This is the Heartland State Trail Rest Area parking lot. (Remember not to ride the tar trail along the parking lot area, you want the gravel trail to the south or city side for ATV's and SxS's) MAP 47.00357, -94.73362 ATV-related parking for the Paul Bunyan State Forest Area can also be found off State Highway 64 & Blue Trail Forest Rd 16 MAP 47.08484, -94.74281 and off State Highway 64 & East Gulch Forest Ln 74 MAP 47.15628, -94.799

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