The Gitchi Gami Trail now provides 10 continous miles of paved surface for West End cyclists.

The Gitchi-Gami State Trail gained three more miles of paved bike trail this summer. The new stretch now runs from the Onion River Road to Cook County Road 34, extending a stretch of existing trail between Tofte and Lutsen.

The brainchild of the Hwy 61 reconstruction talks of the mid-1990s, the Gitchi-Gami Trail is a joint project between the Gitchi-Gami Trail Association (GGTA), the MN DNR, and MN DOT. In 2000, the first 1.2 miles of trail were laid in Gooseberry Falls State Park. When completed, the trail will run alongside Hwy 61 for 86 miles from Two Harbors to Grand Marais. The completed trail in downtown Grand Marais comprises the trail’s eastern terminus.

Initially, said Scott Harrison, president of the GGTA, the plan was to construct the bike trail in conjunction with the rebuilding of Hwy 61, but he says he doesn’t foresee much highway construction in Cook County over the next 10 years.

“It’s expensive,” said Harrison. “There’s not enough manpower. We’re probably looking at 20 years until [the bike trail’s] completion.”

Currently, just 25.6 miles of the planned trail are completed, but the GGTA has funding secured for five new sections of the trail. Two of those new sections–one from Cook County Road 34 to the Old Ski Hill and the second from Beaver Bay to Silver Bay–are slated to go out for bid yet this year and it is hoped construction will begin next year, said Harrison. Once all five sections are completed over the next few years, the trail will be approximately 50 percent complete.

Harrison, who also owns Lutsen Resort, says he feels it’s too early in the trail’s construction to tell if the trail will attract visitors to the region, but even today, the bike trail is a crucial component of some Cook County businesses.

For Sarah and Jeff Lynch of Sawtooth Outfitters in downtown Tofte, the bike trail played a large part in their decision to buy the business, said Sarah Lynch. They offer bike rental, sales and repairs, as well as canoe outfitting services.

“We’re both active bikers ourselves and we like to share biking with others,” Lynch said. “It’s a huge asset being able to go to Temperance River State Park and bike around. People really like it.”

She said the additional 3 miles added by the Onion River section that opened in mid-July provide her customers with 10 miles (or 20 miles round trip) of bike trail accessible from her business’s front door. While most Sawtooth Outfitter customers were content with the previously available eight-mile round trip ride down to Schroeder, Lynch said the new extended trail will appeal to their bike enthusiast customers.

“It’s great to have the bike trail for people to enjoy,” she said.

The tenth annual Gitchi-Gami trail ride will be held on August 21 and will begin at 9 a.m. at Gooseberry Fall State Park. Riders have an option of riding 28 or 55 miles. More information about the annual ride or about the trail’s progress is available at www.ggta.org.