HIDDEN VALLEY— Ely has debuted the latest contribution to the growing number of top-notch mountain bike trails in northeastern Minnesota— just be sure you’re paying attention if you decide to check them out. The trails follow the hilly terrain the area is known for, and it means lots of twists and turns and ups and downs as the narrow track winds its way through dense forest. Close encounters with large trees can be just inches away.
In other words, it’s that perfect mix of danger and exhilaration that has made mountain biking one of the region’s most popular non-motorized forms of outdoor recreation.
“It’s a firm intermediate bordering on advanced,” said Wayne Pasmick, who has been one of the key players in bringing and now maintaining the bike trails at Hidden Valley. He’s the treasurer of the Ely Nordic Ski and Bike Club, which manages Hidden Valley, and most days you can find him out of the trails here. After spending a couple hours on the trails here last week, I can see why.
The trails, designed by Grand Marais-based Dirt Candy Designs, turned the Hidden Valley terrain into a roller coaster ride on two wheels. The trails have a few technical elements, like rock gardens and tabletops, but most of the challenge is found in the up and down nature of the gravel moraines that underlie Hidden Valley. The trail is also narrow, barely wider than a footpath, leaving little room for error. The uphills are very manageable, which is a nice contrast with the Redhead trails in Chisholm, which can be a grind when you’re coming back out of the pit. It’s the downhills that can surprise you at Hidden Valley, so watch your speed so you remain in control. The sides are typically banked for turns at the bottom of some of the steeper drops for those who like the thrill of banking high. At 62, I prefer to stay closer to the main trail.
“There’s random features all along the way,” notes Pasmick, “and some of them do have what we call ‘b-lines’ to get around them but not all of them do.”
Hidden Valley has allowed mountain biking on its ski trails for some time, but the new trails are a reminder of just how big a difference a professionally designed single track trail can make to the riding experience. And with just over ten miles of designed trails, including a skills course that’s just over a mile, you can spend a lot of time here without running out of room to ride.
It turns out Hidden Valley is a great location for mountain bike trails, because unlike much of the area, it’s well-drained. “The key to it all is water management,” said Pasmick. “It’s the art of diverting water to not have washouts.”
While a significant rain can shut down a mountain bike trail in the wrong terrain for hours over even days, most of the five loops that make up the trail system here are ready to ride almost immediately after rain. The only exception, according to Pasmick, is the back loop, a 4.5-kilometer jaunt dubbed The Outback, which is best avoided if it’s rained in the last day.
All together, there are five loops (not including the separate skills course) in Hidden Valley’s new trail system. You start out on the 2.2-k Flying Carpet trail, which connects with two other loops— an aptly named Big Pine loop, which has dozens of very large white pine along the route, and Ely Airlines, which is the most technical of the routes and offers the best opportunities to catch some air.
From Big Pine, you can connect with the 3.1-k loop Erratic Behavior, which is the only way to reach The Outback.
Interest in the trails is evident in the number of visitors to Hidden Valley. On a Friday late morning, with rain threatening, there were nearly ten cars in the parking lot and more were arriving as Pasmick and I chatted nearby. In the past, Pasmick said, you’d be lucky to find a single car in the parking lot in the summer. “There’s been a lot of interest in it as of late,” said Pasmick.
The trail system cost about $160,000 to design and build, with much of the money coming from state grants. But maintenance of the system comes mostly from private donations and membership dues in the Ely Nordic Ski and Bike Club. Volunteers do most of the maintenance of the trail systems at Hidden Valley. For the bike trails that includes clearing downed trees, brushing and weed-whipping in the summer and leaf-blowing the trails in the fall to prevent the accumulation of leaves on the trail. Pasmick said they try to avoid allowing organic matter to build up on the trails.
More trails in the works
The success of the trails to date has the ski and bike club planning to add miles. Pasmick said Dirt Candy’s principals, Adam and Mica Harju, are already busy designing an additional three miles of trail connected to the Hidden Valley system as well as a separate system planned for the property between the U.S. Forest Service Kawishiwi District office and the Minnesota North Vermilion college campus. With funding already in place, Pasmick said actual construction is likely to start next year. Which means Ely is going to continue to attract more mountain bikers for the foreseeable future.