DEVELOPMENT OF THE IRON RANGE MTB DESTINATION TRAIL SYSTEMS

Ferrous Fantasies

Public recreational access within the Iron Range's many retired pit mines was not legal under MN law. Arduous local advocacy and leadership by the MN Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation combined to change the legal statute and open the door to recycling these dramatic landscapes for public recreation.

The IRRR contracted with Kay-Linn to provide the master planning, field design, and construction management of the Tioga, Redhead, and Giants Ridge bike parks spread along northern Minnesota's Iron Range, totaling nearly 80 miles of mountain bike-optimized trails built by six different professional trailbuilders over a span of just three years. 

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The communities along the Iron Range have not just seen their recreational access increase, but local economies are undergoing almost immediate diversification and growth to meet the new tourism opportunities that these destination trail systems have created.

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