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Published November 10, 2011, 12:00 AM

Duluth a mecca for hikers and cyclists?

Duluth officials want to build on the city’s existing network of trails to create the country’s premier urban area for hiking and biking.

By: Peter Passi, Duluth News Tribune

  • Duluth trails
    • image
    Brett Amundson, operations director at Hartley Nature Center, explains the different species of trees growing in Hartley Park during a Wednesday morning hike on the trails with second-graders from Stowe Elementary School. The city of Duluth wants to capitalize on its abundance of public trails by building a series of links for bikers, hikers and runners. (Bob King / rking@duluthnews.com)
  • Proposed Duluth trail system

Mayor Don Ness recently issued a challenge to his community, saying: “Duluth should be the premier trail city in North America.”

To that end, the city recently came forward with an ambitious trail and bikeway plan that would link the city from east to west and from waterfront to ridge.

Duluth voters gave the initiative a big boost Tuesday by approving a $2.6 million tax increase to support the city’s parks and recreation programs.

Given the plan’s magnitude, however, Kathy Bergen, director of Duluth’s park and recreation department, is approaching the task realistically.

“It’s probably going to take 20 years to pick away at this plan and implement it,” she said.

Duluth already boasts a wealth of trails, but it’s a fragmented system, said James Gittemeier, a senior planner for the Duluth-

Superior Metropolitan Interstate Council and a member of the Trail Advisory Group that developed the city-wide trails plan.

“We have an enormous network of trails, but what hinders us right now is that it’s not connected,” he said.

The recently developed plan calls for three main east-west connectors:

  • The Cross-City Trail, which would be a paved path linking Duluth’s Lakewalk to the Willard Munger Trail in West Duluth;

  • The Duluth Traverse, a crushed rock/natural surface trail running along Duluth’s ridgeline and specially designed to accommodate mountain bike traffic;

  • And Skyline Parkway, which is sandwiched between the other two proposed trails and could be developed to better accommodate bicycles and pedestrians, with wider shoulders and a reduced speed limit of 25 mph.

    Gittemeier said the plan also calls for connecting trails that would move people up and down the hill in Duluth. These connectors would include a path running up the Tischer Creek corridor to the University of Minnesota Duluth and on to the College of St. Scholastica, Rice Lake Road, Lowell Elementary School and North Star Academy. Other connectors would run up the hill from the Lake Superior Zoo, the Clyde Iron complex, the downtown, the Chester Creek corridor and along Seven Bridges Road.

    The Duluth Traverse is being developed by COGGS — short for the Cyclists of Gitchee Gumee Shores. With support from the city, the group has applied for $500,000 from the state Legacy Grant program to help build trails.

    “The city really heard us out on what our vision was,” COGGS chairman Adam Sundberg said.

    Most of the land COGGS aims to cross already is owned by the city and St. Louis County. Additional easements would be needed to cross property belonging to UMD and St. Scholastica. Sundberg estimated that about 80 percent of the proposed Duluth Traverse route could be built without much difficulty.

    Joey Klein, a trail builder with the International Mountain Bicycling Association, was brought in this spring to consult and assist with the design of the Duluth Traverse. Sundberg said the trail will be built to operate sustainably without danger of erosion. It will connect seven mountain bike trail systems across the city.

    “If you have a world-class trail system, people will come from all over the place to use it,” said Sundberg, talking about the potential draw. He pointed to the high traffic generated at more remote systems such as the Cayuna Lakes Trail network in the Crosby/Ironton area and another trail system in Copper Harbor, Mich.

    As for Duluth becoming known as the premier trail city in North America, Sundberg said: “I’m a skeptic by nature, but we live in a very beautiful place. There are no ‘purple mountain majesties’ here, but some of our lake views are incredibly nice, and Duluth has more acres of green space per capita than most any city in the nation.”

    With careful planning and better signs and maps, Bergen said the city can improve its already impressive trail network and become more of a destination for people looking to enjoy the outdoors.

    “If you look at trail use nationwide, it has become a big business,” she said.

    The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources estimated that bicycle-related tourism alone generated $481 million in 2009.

    Ness said the city’s parks and trails can do more than fuel tourism. He contends they could prove to be a competitive advantage that makes the city a more attractive place for people to live and do business.

    “If we truly can say we’re the premier trail city in North America, it speaks to a lot of what we have to offer: a sense of connection with the outdoors and unique recreational opportunities in a progressive city,” he said.

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