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Finally, the Bunyan is done

Last stretch of paving creates a 106-mile trail between Bemidji and Brainerd.

On the Paul Bunyan State Trail, a bicyclist crosses the spot where the Mississippi River leaves Lake Bemidji.

In Minnesota lakes country, the last stretch of the Paul Bunyan State Trail between Bemidji and Walker was paved this week, creating the biggest, brawniest trail system in the north woods.

The Bunyan now stretches 106 miles from Lake Bemidji State Park to Brainerd-Baxter.

Add the Heartland State Trail from Park Rapids and the Migizi Trail around Cass Lake, and bicyclists now can ride 162 miles without getting off a paved bicycle trail, except for three miles of city streets in Bemidji and Cass Lake.

“It’s going to be quite the system,’’ says Tony Walzer of the DNR’s Bemidji office, who shepherded the northern half of the trail through interminable construction and a property owner’s unsuccessful appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court. “It’s about time.’’

The newest section, 16 miles between Guthrie and Walker, passes two lakes and crosses two rivers and two creeks. For more, see Bicycling the Bunyan.

For other trails, see Bicycling Minnesota.

Last updated on June 3, 2010

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Finally, the Bunyan is done

Last stretch of paving creates a 106-mile trail between Bemidji and Brainerd.

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