Group envisions multi-use trail stretching across Duluth

Talk about it

One day in the not-so-distant future, it may be possible for Duluth residents to bicycle, hike, ski or snowshoe across the entire city.

COGGS, a local bicycling group, this past week secured a $10,000 grant for construction of a trail to be called the Duluth Traverse. The 100-mile trail will snake from west to east across the city, connecting with several hubs of loop trails.

The unpaved trail will be open to human-powered use, including beginner-level mountain biking, hiking, skiing and snowshoeing, said Adam Sundberg, chairman of the group Cyclists of Gitchee Gumee Shores (COGGS).

“There’s no urban area in the entire country that can say, ‘We have 100 miles of multi-use trail,’ ” Sundberg said.

The Superior Hiking Trail reaches 39 miles across Duluth, but it is not open to bicycling.

COGGS has been instrumental in establishing mountain-biking trails in the Piedmont and Lester-Amity areas. About 30 miles of trail exist in those areas and other parts of the city, Sundberg said. An additional 70 miles will be built to create the Duluth Traverse.

COGGS received its $10,000 grant from Bikes Belong, a bicycling industry group that promotes community biking initiatives.

The Duluth Traverse, along with trails planned for Grand Marais and Crosby, Minn., all have “the power to create silent-sports economies of some pretty significant value,” said Duluth’s Hansi Johnson, Midwest regional director for the International Mountain Bicycling Association.

“This is the key for kids getting outdoors safely, for our citizens to exercise and also our business community to market and sell in a tourism aspect,” Johnson said.

The goal is to complete the Duluth Traverse in five years, Sundberg said. It would be a single-track trail slightly wider than the Superior Hiking Trail, he said. It would run slightly above and slightly below Skyline Parkway in most places, from Mission Creek to Lester-Amity Park. The exact route has not yet been determined.

Sundberg said the $10,000 grant, along with $15,000 that COGGS has raised through donations, will be used as matching money for a Parks Legacy grant the club is applying for. The Legacy account, established through constitutional amendment in 2008, is funded by a percentage of the Minnesota sales tax.

The city of Duluth, with City Council approval, will apply for a Legacy fund grant of $75,000, which, if obtained, would provide $100,000 for the project when paired with COGGS’ $25,000. That money would then be matched one-to-one with federal money, Sundberg said, to create a total of $200,000. That should cover design and construction of the trail, he said.

Daryl Peterson of GOGGS was instrumental in writing the Bikes Belong grant, Sundberg said, and Andrea Grygo prepared maps that accompanied the application.

Kathy Bergen, manager of Duluth’s Parks and Recreation Department, said the Duluth Traverse trail would complement the city’s evolving trail system.

“This fits in perfectly with the goal, which is to connect all the different trails around the city and make people aware of the different uses of trails and sign the trails better,” Bergen said.

If you go

A Trails Master Plan stakeholder meeting will be from 7-9 p.m. Tuesday at the Duluth Parks and Recreation office, 12 E. Fourth St. Purpose of the meeting is to discuss a regional and city trails master plan. The public is welcome.

Tags: outdoors, duluth, family, updates