A Hiking I Will Go

     Great news for those folks who like to hike!  The Kekekabic Hiking Trail on the Gunflint Trail will soon have a new loop trail to follow.  This trail will be accessed from the Kek trailhead and will follow the Kek for a while before looping back to connect to the Round Lake Road instead of following the trail through the Boundary Waters.  USFS crews used explosives yesterday to help clear the new portion of the Centennial Trail.  I can’t wait for it to be completed so I can go hiking!

From the USFS…The Gunflint Ranger District is creating a new hiking trail this year. It’s just one of the many ways we’re celebrating the 100th anniversary of President Theodore Roosevelt proclaiming 644,114 acres in northeastern Minnesota as part of the national forest system effectively giving birth to the Superior National Forest.
 
The Centennial Trail will be a loop trail of 3.3 miles. It will incorporate 1.2 miles of the Kekekabic Trail and a new section, currently under construction, which will connect to  the Port Arthur Railroad bed  built in the early 1890’s. After the Ham Lake Fire, several of the old mine pits and railroad beds were exposed and that’s how Tom Kaffine, Forestry Technician and wilderness guru, came up with the idea of this historical trail. 
 
The Centennial Trail will have some beautiful overlooks. Clearing the area has already begun* and the Smokejumper Trail Association will be here to help complete the task. 
 
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