By:
Submission
Canoe in site that is also used by hikers/bikers on the Paul Bunyan Trail.
The Paul Bunyan State Trail is 115 miles long, not including a couple of short on-road connections through the cities of Baxter and Bemidji. Extending all the the way from Crow Wing State Park to Lake Bemidji State Park, north of Bemidji, it is the longest of Minnesota's state trails and the longest continuously paved rail-trail in the country.
Camped here on 7/1/22. The sign is gone, only a post remains. The trail is overgrown and I presume that it leads to the paddle in sites. We did not bike all the way down to the river. Pitched our tent off to the side. No one bothered us. An excellent choice for bikers in need of a nights sleep.
Cool site! (There looked like there was actually two spots that I found). I didn't sleep very well though because there was a fox in the area barking/screaming. And then that alerted some dogs in the area too to start barking.
Amazing sites! Biked all the way down to the river. It’s a primitive site, so go in knowing what that means in regards to the trail conditions and you’ll have a great time and know what to expect! It looks like the canoe access is well used, but still in good shape, and would be easy to spot from the creek. Lots of downed branches for kindling, but I would recommend bringing in firewood or a hatchet for the larger downed branches. It rained for a full 12 hours our second day here. Low parts of the trail got very mucky but the site did not flood or get muddy. By the next morning the trail was still a little rough but seemed to be draining well. There isn’t an ideal spot for the bear bag, but we made it work. The one downfall was all the road noise. It’s a fairly short distance from 371 and was surprisingly loud. It took away from the experience, but the pair of trumpeter swans that kept flying back and forth helped. Lots of good bird watching possibilities here!
