Smart Decisions on the Gunflint Trail

The Gunflint Trail is a beautiful paved highway that passes some gorgeous scenery. Surrounded by the Superior National Forest it passes lakes, marshes, creeks, rivers, hills and more. I love to spend time on the Gunflint Trail and I often run on the Gunflint Trail and walk my dog on the road. I have even biked on the Gunflint Trail but I don’t recommend people bike on the Trail.  I will usually only bike on it during the fall or early spring when the leaves are gone and I can hear traffic coming from a long way off.  I try not to do it when there is much traffic and when vehicles come I will often get off of my bike and move over to the ditch because the majority of the Gunflint Trail doesn’t have a shoulder.

It isn’t safe to bike on the Gunflint Trail.  It is dangerous to bike on the Gunflint Trail. If two vehicles meet on the road they must be careful to stay on their own side of the road without going off the side of the road because there isn’t a shoulder and the dirt can be soft. There are a number of large vehicles that travel the Gunflint Trail that take up their entire lane and then some. We see logging trucks, huge RV’s, large vehicles pulling big boats, delivery trucks and more on the Gunflint Trail. When I am about to meet a large vehicle I’ll usually slow down and pull way over to the side of the road so I don’t get clipped.

Imagine my concern yesterday, Memorial Day when I saw a woman on a bicycle on the Gunflint Trail holding a leash that extended to her dog who was running in the lane of traffic alongside the bike.  Thankfully there wasn’t a vehicle coming at me, luckily I was paying attention to the road and with a deep breath I was able to make it past the bike and dog without killing either one of them.

Memorial Day is a busy traffic day on the Gunflint Trail. Most summer days there is a significant amount of traffic on the Trail. Please do me a favor and help keep everyone who travels the Gunflint Trail safe. If you want to ride your bike then find a nice logging road to ride on. If you want to take your dog on a walk then find a trail or put him on a leash and walk with him. If you must bike with your dog then put him in a basket where he can be relatively safe.  But please do not allow your dog to be stretched out on a leash where you can’t control him as you ride your bike and especially do not do this on the Gunflint Trail.

Thank you very much.