REGIONAL— County roads weren’t the only travel corridors to take a pounding from last week’s torrential rain. ATV trails across the area were hit just as hard, with widespread damage to slopes and numerous washouts.
The Prospector Trail, which recently completed a connecting trail to the Pfeiffer Lake area, between Tower and Cook, saw some of the worst damage. “The Pfeiffer Lake area is bad,” said Ron Potter, with the Prospector ATV Trail Alliance. But the damage to the trail system spans an enormous area, notes Potter. “Pretty much any slope of a ten percent grade or more is pretty much down to rock,” he said. “A lot of the fines are gone.”
The trail system, which runs from west of Tower to Ely, Babbitt and beyond, experienced several complete washouts from the storm, which dropped anywhere from three to eight-plus inches across the region.
The portion of the trail that runs along the old DM&IR rail grade between Murray and Trygg roads in Breitung Township, is currently impassable due to a washout. Other major washouts near Babbitt and points south and east from there are in various states of repair.
At this point, Potter said it appears that the bridges along the Prospector Trail network survived the flooding, even as some had water flowing over them in the wake of the heavy rain. According to Potter, it appears that the bridge abutments remained in place, so that may help limit the need for more substantial repair work.
To the north, the Voyageur Country ATV trail saw damage, while trails near the north shore of Lake Superior were also hit hard.
Competition for gravel
Complicating the task of repairing the trail network is the sudden high demand for gravel. The storm caused extensive damage to hundreds of county and township roads, as well as private driveways, and that’s got public and private gravel haulers running ragged. And since the ATV trail groups often rely on county equipment for hauling gravel and other materials, repairs may not get underway in earnest until the county has a handle on its own road repairs. The county announced this week that they have recorded more than 1,000 locations with damage, both on county and private roads, so repairs could take time.
Potter said he expects repairs to the ATV trail system will take weeks to complete.
At this point, he said the total price tag for repairs is unknown since some areas of the trail system remain underwater and can’t be assessed. “Once the water goes down, we’ll take another look at it,” said Potter.
Mixed messages
While some trail groups have closed their trails for now, Potter said the Prospector Trail isn’t closed for now. “We’re saying we’re technically open but that we have a lot of damage and that some sections will be marked closed.”
The group ATV Minnesota recently posted a notice advising the public of the damage in the northeastern part of the state and noted that some clubs are urging riders to stay off the trails for the next couple weeks to allow them to dry out. That will be necessary to allow the kind of heavy equipment on the trails that will be needed to do most of the repairs.
Riders can find more information on trail conditions and closures at https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/ohv/closures.html.