DNR hosts open house on Gitchi Gami trail development

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Parks and Trails Division will host an open house from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 12, at the Grand Marais City Hall council chambers to share information and get feedback on the Grand Marais-to-Cutface segment of the Gitchi-Gami State Trail. 

The new segment of the trail will be just over three miles long. It will start at Fall River Road in Grand Marais and go south along Lake Superior to Cutface Creek, where there’s a rest area on Hwy. 61.  

Proposed amenities will include observation areas and interpretive signage. Construction is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2019, with completion anticipated by summer 2020.

When it’s complete, the Gitchi-Gami State Trail will extend for 86 miles from Two Harbors to Grand Marais. More than 28 miles of the trail have already been paved. The longest paved segment is the 15-mile segment from Gooseberry Falls to Beaver Bay.

There will be no formal presentation at the open house. Visitors can stop by anytime during the 90-minute session to ask questions and provide informal feedback to city and DNR staff.  

For more information about the Gitchi-Gami State Trail, visit the Minnesota DNR website or contact the DNR Information Center by emailing [email protected]or by calling 888-646-6367 (8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.Saturday).
 
And, WTIP had a few questions of our own. Rhonda Silence learns more in this interview.