New Trail for the Boundary Waters

The Superior National Forest is developing a new trail in the Boundary Waters area that will link into the renowned Kekekabic Trail. The new trail will create a loop route off of the Kekekabic Trail that will loop back to Round Lake before entering the wilderness area. USFS crews used explosives Thursday (9/10/09)to help clear the new portion of the new Centennial Trail. From the Forest Service:

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.