How motor sports and quiet sports lovers are working together in northern Minnesota

Minnesota outdoors lovers haven’t always played well together: motor sports devotees and quiet sports enthusiasts maintain and use separate trails, with some debating which groups are better stewards of natural resources.

But now, in northern Minnesota, several competing trail groups are setting down a new path.

A collection of mountain biking enthusiasts, ATV riders, hikers, snowmobilers, skiers and community leaders are meeting to find common ground across the Mesabi Range. Their new group, the Arrowhead Coalition of Trails, has a mission built on a shared ideal: Working together to draw more outdoor recreation tourists to the region. They’re talking about sharing volunteers and trail maintenance gear, creating a new marketing plan to represent all of them, and even teaming up to provide a vault toilet at a trailhead.

The groups are learning how much each type of sport can benefit their communities.

At its first meeting last month in Virginia, the coalition saw data about the volume of out-of-towners, for example, who rumble on ATVs and side-by-sides on places like the Prospectors Trail system that connects Ely, Tower and nearby towns. And the metro cyclists who sweep into facilities like Redhead Mountain Bike Park in Chisholm.

A University of Minnesota analysis of ATV use in Koochiching, Lake and St. Louis counties found that more than 219,000 riders visited the region in 2023, injecting an estimated $36 million into the economy, with $12 million in labor income. On average, an individual rider spent a little more than $144 per day at local businesses.

The Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota found in 2023 that tourists made up 67% of riders at Redhead and 85% at Giants Ridge, which has won raves for its downhill trails outside of ski season. Most visitors have come from the metro area.

The upshot: Designated trails draw varied visitors to the Arrowhead, and development will drive more tourism.

“The goal [of the coalition] is looking at, how do we really make the most of these tens of millions [of dollars] invested in our trails so that our communities benefit?” said Beth Pierce, Iron Range Tourism Bureau executive director.

Pierce has had allies in forming the group. Sarah Ciochetto is the deputy director of the St. Louis and Lake Counties Regional Railroad Authority, which owns and manages the 150-mile Mesabi Trail cycling path between Grand Rapids and Ely. Aaron Hautala of Strateligent, an advertising agency in Brainerd, has a deep history in Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area mountain biking’s development and promotion.

Ciochetto said she has thought for years about a “trail town” tourism-centered strategy to help develop and sell the Arrowhead.

“But I couldn’t create a trail town program for the Mesabi Trail,” she added. “It had to be inclusive of all the groups we have.”

At the inaugural meeting, coalition members were intentionally scattered at different tables to help spark relationships. Representatives from the U.S. Forest Service, state Department of Natural Resources and the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board also attended.

Pierce said some trail representatives have met for several years on and off as a task force. One productive spinoff was the Northeastern Regional ATV Joint Powers Board, which partnered with the University of Minnesota Extension to study ATV use and impact. Yet, Pierce and Ciochetto both said they have sensed a wariness — and sometimes an animosity — among the various groups. She said some have had questions about maintenance, funding and safety as trail development and use has increased. Coalition organizers knew the participants had answers, and structure was needed to effectively share them.

“It is not just one kind of trail. Everybody has a different piece of this to offer,” Pierce added, “so it is important that everybody talks.”

The Arrowhead Coalition has re-energized conversations when the draw and impact of outdoor recreation – such as that shown in the U study – is tangible. For example, the Mesabi Trail will be nearly completed in two years, with the construction of the final section from Embarrass to Tower. More than 185,000 users were expected this year. The Prospectors ATV Trail Alliance has connected with the railroad authority about partnering on a vault toilet at the Mesabi Trail’s kiosk in Embarrass that will serve cyclists, walkers and ATV riders.

Coalition member Ron Potter contributes significant experience as a longtime DNR parks and trails division area supervisor. He also is the president of the ATV Association of Minnesota.

Potter said meeting as a coalition reinforces their true connectedness: people visit the region for all sorts of outdoors fun. A mountain biker might also love driving a side-by-side, for instance.

The Arrowhead alliance could be a key communication hub for dealing with perennial challenges. A lack of volunteers is one of them, Potter said. And there can be equipment shortages.

While the off-roaders and snowmobilers have few corridors they share, perhaps there are partnerships around clearing and maintaining trails or storing gear, he said. Other coalition members might lend their grant-writing expertise. He said he’d count those as wins as the coalition, for now, works on concrete plans and recommendations on everything from assessing the need for updating mapping and signage to how to better communicate with one another.

“We have gotten so stratified. We don’t realize that we have a lot of things in common,” Potter added. “We are trying to do the same thing and provide recreational opportunities for the public, and there are a lot of things we can do together.”

“There has been more recognition it is not us against them,” Pierce said. “It’s ‘Who needs to talk to who?’ I think that is happening.”