Gunflint Trail

The Gunflint Trail is a 57-mile paved roadway that begins in Grand Marais, Minnesota and ends at Seagull Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA), near the US border with Ontario, Canada. Originally a foot path for travellers from inland lakes to Lake Superior, the trail was eventually widened into a road. It now serves as a route to lodges, outfitters, hiking trails and the lakes and rivers of the BWCA. A small number of people, numbering in the hundreds, have full-time residences or businesses along the Gunflint Trail, though thousands have cabins or other part-time residential properties. Its numerical designation is Cook County Highway 12.

Ham Lake Fire

The Ham Lake Fire of Spring 2007 severely impacted the Upper Gunflint Trail, burning over convert|40000|acre|km2 in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Ontario's La Verendrye Provincial Park. The fire lasted several weeks and claimed almost 200 structures, although no one was seriously injured or killed. It was started accidentally by an unattended camp fire at a campsite on Ham Lake. The fire drew national attention and a visit from the governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, who inspected the damage first-hand. [ [http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1170203.html Star Tribune Story on the Gunflint Fire] ] Despite the significant damage to the forest, most outfitters and commercial businesses have reopened and access to the region's lakes is unaffected.

Geography and tourism

Glaciers created the area's geographical features, forming basins running east to west with the region's bedrock, and when they retreated, lakes formed. The Ojibwa and French explorers found chert, which produces sparks, at Gunflint Lake and gave the trail its name, In contemporary times, both fire and wind put stress on the area. cite news|author=Breining, Greg|title=A Glide Along Minnesota’s Gunflint Trail|url=http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/travel/escapes/29gunflint.html|date=February 28, 2008|work=The New York Times|publisher=The New York Times Company|accessdate=2008-03-01]

The Ojibwa built a village that is now Grand Marais, which became a trading post and a center for logging and commercial fishing. The town today is home to artists and artisans, and tourists who visit for the Gunflint Trail's canoe routes, hiking, fishing and convert|120|mi|km|0 of trails for cross-country skiing.

Flora and fauna

Grouse, white-tailed deer, black bear, moose, Snowshoe hares, wolves, lynx and pine marten inhabit the surrounding forest which is composed of spruces, fir, pines, birch and aspen. Lake trout, walleye, pike, and bass inhabit the many lakes along the Gunflint Trail.

References