All Season Adventure Seekers

The greater Grand Rapids, and Itasca County, Minnesota area has over 1M publicly accessible forest acres with 2,000 miles of designated trails and over 1,100 area lakes. Create your own adventure with the abundance of outdoor recreation opportunities here. This travel itinerary is for 3-Day and up to 5 Experiences to enjoy.

Get settled into your short-term lodging property, and if you get into town early enough you can get in a couple of hours of outdoor fun. Things to consider for one experience on the first day a half day of biking, hiking, or snowshoeing (based on the season).

Fat Tire or Mountain biking at Tioga Recreation Area – 1-3 hours of time commitment
o Professional built 25-mile, single track trail, and skills course.

Biking on the Mesabi Trail (open May-October) – 1-3 hours of time commitment
o Longest paved biking trail in northern Minnesota runs from Grand Rapids to Effie, MN.

Hike or Snowshoe in the Chippewa National Forest – 1-3 hours of time commitment
o We suggest the Simpson Creek and the Lost Forty as locations to consider. Both have well-designated trails to hike or snowshoe on. The length of these trails are: 1.5-2.5 miles, easy to moderate level, and you will discover 100+ year old pines, mixed hardwoods, and water features.

Time to Get Outdoors - Whatever the Season! Many biking options (paved bicycle trail, mountain biking, and fat tire biking) we have all the bike trails to consider. Ride the Range is where you will find all types of biking options within 1.5 hours of one another. Paddling options for spring, summer and fall, and fishing options for open water and ice season.

Ride the Range Bike Trails – these are paved systems and single-track gravel and forest systems to ride road bikes, fat tire bikes and mountain bikes. 2-5 hours of time commitment
o Mesabi Trail – the longest paved bike trail in northern MN that runs from Grand Rapids to Effie, MN.
o Tioga Recreation Area – Cohasset, MN – 25 mile single track and a skills course
o Cuyuna - Crosby/Ironton, MN - 2-10 mile paved scenic route, 50 miles of red dirt single track trails.
o Redhead – Chisholm, MN - 25 miles of purpose-built singletrack trails, a paved pump track, and a reclaimed iron mine landscape
o Giants Ridge – Biwabik, MN – 9.2 miles of purpose-built cross country trails that wind through the scenic Superior National Forest.

Paddling the Mississippi River from Pokegama Dam to Sylvan Bay – 1-3 hours of time commitment. The Mississippi River in Grand Rapids is fairly wide, clear, full of wildlife like ducks, geese, and eagles, and easy to paddle down river. On a fall paddle you will discover stunning colors of the mixed hardwood and pine forests.

Fishing – open water or ice – with over 1,100 area lakes to catch fish from panfish to trophy fish like walleyes and northern pike. Check with local sporting goods and bait shops for fishing report and tips on what is biting currently. Time commitment of 2-5 hours.

Day 3: Final Day of Outdoor Adventure– possibly half day if you will be traveling home in the afternoon. Here are some ideas for a half day of outdoor fun:

Cross Country Skiing, Hiking, or Snowshoeing in the Chippewa National Forest. We suggest: Suomi Trail up the Edge of the Wilderness Scenic Byway or the Lost Forty. Time commitment is 2-4 hours.

ATVing or Snowmobiling – for some exhilarating adventure seek motorized outdoor recreation to get deeper in the mixed hardwood and pine forests. There are over 300 miles of ATV trails in Itasca County, and over 200 miles of snowmobile trails, including the Taconite Trail that starts in Grand Rapids and ends in Effie, MN. Time commitment is 2-4 hours. If you do not own, don’t worry there are rentals near by. We suggest for ATVing the B&B Trail that now runs from Talmoon to Bigfork to Balsam, MN (180 miles), and for Snowmobiling we suggest the Itasca Driftskipper Trails that start 9-miles from Grand Rapids and run to Hill City, MN.