REGIONAL— A proposal to add about 59 miles of new OHV trail segments and a connecting spur in northern St. Louis County is up for public comment through May 4. That’s according to the Department of Natural Resources, which is overseeing the environmental assessment worksheet, or EAW, on the proposal.
The Prospectors Trail Alliance is the proposer of the new trails, which are part of what the club is describing as Phase Two of their plan to expand off-road riding in the region connected to the Prospectors Loop Trail. The new segments would provide new connections to existing OHV trails and a spur to the

Y Store to allow for refueling and other amenities. Among the proposed new trails is an approximately 16-mile segment running from Tower west to Pfeiffer Lake. The proposed trail would follow portions of the Taconite Trail between Tower and a new connecting spur to the Y Store. It will later turn southwest, paralleling Hwy. 169, then turning west onto the Flaim Road and Flaim Woods Road before continuing west down an unspecified corridor to Pfeiffer Lake.
New segments are also planned along the Cloquet Line (approx. three miles), north of Ely, and connecting Mud Creek Road and the Wolf Lake Rd. north of Hwy. 169, to near Mitchell Lake (approx. 18 miles), located south of Hwy. 169. The longest proposed segment, at approximately 20 miles, will run mostly along county and U.S. Forest Service roads between Hoyt Lakes and the Dunka Road, near Babbitt.
About 22 miles of the proposed routes would travel over existing corridors already open to OHV use, including ATVs, off-road motorcycles, UTVs, and jeeps and four-wheel trucks. Just over 27 miles of the new segments would pass along existing corridors that are not currently open to OHV use and would likely require hardening of slopes and bridges across wetland areas. A total of nine miles of new trail would be constructed under the plan.
The proposal is expected to impact about six acres of wetlands and increase the spread of invasive plant species. Construction of the trail is projected to burn 57,600 gallons of diesel fuel, while trail users are expected to consume about 21,000 gallons of gasoline annually. That would generate about 192 metric tons of carbon emissions per year, according to the EAW.
To comment
A copy of the EAW is available on the project page of the DNR website(mndnr.gov/input/environmentalreview/prospectors-loop.html).
A hard copy may be requested by calling 651-259-5122.
The EAW is also available for public review at Hoyt Lakes Public Library, 206 Kennedy Memorial Drive, Hoyt Lakes, MN 55750.
The EAW was published in the April 4, 2023 Environmental Quality Board Monitor(eqb.state.mn.us/eqb-monitor-volume-47-number-14).
Comments must be submitted no later than 4:30 p.m. on May 4, 2023.
Mailed comments should be sent to the attention of Becky Horton, EAW project manager, Environmental Review Unit, Ecological and Water Resources Division, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 500 Lafayette Road N, St. Paul, MN 55155.
Email comments should be sent to environmentalrev.dnr@state.mn.us with “Prospectors Loop” in the subject line.
Anyone providing a mailing address or submitting comments via email will receive a copy of the decision document, which includes responses to comments. Because all comments and related information are part of the public record for this environmental review, commenters’ names and email or postal addresses will be published and publicly available as they appear in the materials they submit.