The 165-mile trail is finally complete after thirty years

The Mesabi Trail, a paved cycling route running 165 miles across northern Minnesota, is finally complete after more than 30 years of planning and fundraising. It now ranks among the longest paved bike trails in the country, connecting 28 communities from Grand Rapids to Ely. The route follows the Iron Range, threading through woods and hills that were themselves built from mining. Heaps of earth dug decades ago became man-made mountains, and forests grew back to line the trail's edges. The Department of Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation helped fund it using profit from the mines. "No single organization, funding source, or individual could have built what we see here today," said commissioner Ida Rukavina at last Tuesday's ribbon cutting. "This trail is the product of three decades of partnership and persistence." Tens of thousands of people already ride it each year. They have been riding stretches of it for years, waiting for the rest to catch up.