Casey Jones State Trail | |
---|---|
Length | 19 miles (31 km) (discontinuous) |
Location | Southwestern Minnesota, USA |
Designation | Minnesota state trail |
Trailheads | Pipestone Lake Wilson Lake Shetek State Park Currie |
Use | Biking, hiking, snowmobiling Partial: horseback riding, in-line skating |
Grade | Mostly level |
Season | Year-round |
Sights | Buffalo Ridge, glacial landforms, Lake Shetek, pioneer and railroad history |
Hazards | Severe weather |
Surface | Part asphalt, part natural |
Website | Casey Jones State Trail |
The Casey Jones State Trail is a multi-use recreational rail trail in southwestern Minnesota, USA. Although it was one of the first Minnesota state trails to be established, it remains incomplete as three discontinuous sections. The trail is managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. It traverses the rolling morainal landscape of the Coteau des Prairies, passing cropland interspersed with wooded ravines, remnant tallgrass prairie, and wetlands. [1] The trail is named after railroad engineer Casey Jones, who famously sacrificed his life to lessen the severity of a 1900 train crash in Mississippi. Jones had no connections to Minnesota; the trail was named for him as it was the first abandoned railroad grade acquired by the state. The railroad was key to bringing settlers to the area in the late 19th century and for shipping their agricultural products to market. [2]
The Casey Jones State Trail is currently limited to three separate sections. The first section runs from the city of Pipestone due east for 13 miles (21 km) to the Pipestone/Murray county line. After a 4-mile (6.4 km) gap the trail resumes for a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) section leading into the town of Lake Wilson. These two sections have a natural surface. The third portion is a paved 6-mile (9.7 km) loop between End-O-Line Railroad Park & Museum in Currie and Lake Shetek State Park. [1] The full plan for the trail is a route from Split Rock Creek State Park to Pipestone to Lake Wilson to Slayton to Lake Shetek State Park to Walnut Grove. A spur would provide access to Pipestone National Monument. The plan calls for parallel tracks, one paved and one natural-surfaced, to accommodate horseback riding and snowmobiling as well as biking, in-line skating, and cross-country skiing. [2]
The Casey Jones State Trail was authorized in the late 1960s shortly after legislation was passed allowing for state trails in Minnesota. The original route was to follow the abandoned railroad grade and then sweep northeast through Slayton to Lake Shetek State Park. No further property was acquired, however, and only the 13-mile (21 km) section from Pipestone was developed, opening in the mid-1970s. [2]
In 1993 Murray County secured federal funds through the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act to build the paved loop from Currie to the state park, which was completed in 1996. The following year a local group secured a key .5-mile (0.80 km) segment leading into Lake Wilson, and that section was soon opened for hiking. [2]
The popularity of the paved loop helped renew public interest in the trail. The 2002 Minnesota Legislature officialized the loop as part of the state trail and authorized a 30-mile (48 km) extension to the main route. However a second bill to provide funding did not pass and a small appropriation was vetoed by the governor.
Murray County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 8,179 at the 2020 census. Its county seat is Slayton.
Currie is a city in Murray County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 233 at the 2010 census. Lake Shetek State Park is nearby. The city is known as the "Gateway to Lake Shetek". Currie is notable for its tourism, cuisine, and recreational opportunities. It is home to Lakeside Hideaway and the End-O-Line Railroad Park & Museum in addition to being the headquarters of Schmitz Grain. Along with the census-designated area The Lakes, Minnesota, the Currie area has a population of close to 1,000 residents.
Wild River State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, curving along 18 miles (29 km) of the St. Croix River. This long, narrow park is shaped somewhat like a sideways 'S', with development largely concentrated in the lower third. The remote upper sections flank the mouth of a tributary called the Sunrise River. The park is managed to provide quieter, more nature-oriented recreation as a counterpoint to the busier William O'Brien and Interstate State Parks downstream.
Lake Shetek is the largest lake in southwestern Minnesota, United States, and the headwaters of the Des Moines River. It is located in The Lakes, an unincorporated community in Murray County a few miles north-northwest of Currie. The name Shetek is derived from "pelican" in the Ojibwe language.
The Cannon Valley Trail is a paved rail trail that follows the Cannon River in southeast Minnesota. The trail follows an abandoned Chicago Great Western Railway corridor for 20 miles (32 km) between Cannon Falls, Minnesota and Red Wing, Minnesota. In the spring, summer, and fall months, the trail is open to hiking, biking, and inline skating. In the winter months, the trail is groomed for cross-country skiing.
Three Rivers Park District is a special park district serving the suburban areas of the Twin Cities including suburban Hennepin, Carver, Dakota, Scott, and Ramsey counties. Three Rivers's mission is "To promote environmental stewardship through recreation and education in a natural resources-based park system." Three Rivers operates twenty parks and ten regional trails, with at least two more regional trails planned. Nearly seven million people visit Three Rivers facilities each year. It has over 27,000 acres (11,000 ha) of parks and trails.
Sakatah Lake State Park is an 842-acre (341 ha) state park of Minnesota, USA, on a natural widening of the Cannon River near the town of Waterville. The Dakota native to the area called it "Sakatah" which means "singing hills". To honor this native heritage, some of the trails in the park have been given Dakota names. The Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail, which connects Faribault and Mankato, runs through this park.
Lake Shetek State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, on Lake Shetek, which is the largest lake in southwestern Minnesota and the headwaters of the Des Moines River. It is most popular for water recreation and camping. However the park also contains historical resources related to the Dakota War of 1862, including an original log cabin and a monument to 15 white settlers killed there and at nearby Slaughter Slough on August 20, 1862.
Lakelands Trail State Park, officially the Mike Levine Lakelands Trail State Park since January 20, 2017, is a state park in Michigan that runs east–west from southwest of Munith to Hamburg Township, Michigan. It is a multi-use trail converted from abandoned railroad corridors. According to the Michigan DNR web site, the north side of the trail is for hiking and biking, and the south side is for horseback riding. Based on the latest published DNR map the trail is 31.9 miles (51.3 km) long with the surface from Hawkins Rd. southwest of Munith to west of Pinckney composed of sections of crushed limestone, slag and sand, or unimproved. 10 miles (16 km) are paved in Hamburg Township from the first intersection with M-36 west of Pinckney to end of the park east of the Hamburg Rd. trailhead. A paved section of trail also extends from the edge of the park east of Hamburg Rd. to the west side of Whitmore Lake Rd., just south of its intersection with 9 Mile Rd in Green Oak Township.
Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail is a 41-mile-long (66 km) paved multi-use rail trail connecting Faribault and Mankato, Minnesota. It is maintained by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, which converted it from a railroad line. The name derives from the Dakota people who lived in the region; "Sakatah" translates into "singing hills". It began as a snowmobile trail and is now shared by hikers, joggers and cross-country skiers. There are sections of parallel dirt trail for horseback riders but they are not continuous. The landscape is mostly cultivated land with remnant stands of prairie and Big Woods. The trail passes through Sakatah Lake State Park and runs through city streets in Waterville.
Minnesota State Highway 29 (MN 29) is a 126.592-mile-long (203.730 km) highway in west-central Minnesota, which runs from its junction with U.S. Highways 59 and 212 in Montevideo and continues north to its terminus at U.S. Highway 71 in Wadena.
Minnesota State Highway 30 (MN 30) is a 265.503-mile-long (427.286 km) highway in southwest and southeast Minnesota, which runs from South Dakota Highway 34 at the South Dakota state line near Airlie, west of Pipestone, and continues to its eastern terminus at its intersection with Minnesota Highway 43 in Rushford.
Southwest LRT Trail is a system of shared-use paths for bicycles and pedestrian paths that extends through several western suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota. They are operated by the Three Rivers Park District. Two former rail corridors originally built by the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway were acquired and converted to trails in anticipation of the Southwest Corridor light rail project. The two former railway corridors are now divided into three distinct trails.
The Gateway State Trail is a multi-use recreational rail trail in the U.S. state of Minnesota, running 18 miles (29 km) from Saint Paul to Pine Point Regional Park in Stillwater. It runs through urban landscapes of eastern Saint Paul in Ramsey County and rural farmland and forests in Washington County. It was designated a National Recreation Trail in 2002.
U.S. Highway 212 (US 212) within the state of Minnesota travels from the South Dakota state line in the west, crosses the southwestern part of the state, to the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area in the east and end at its interchange with US 169 and State Highway 62 (MN 62) in the Minneapolis suburb of Edina. US 212 in Minnesota has an official length of 161.8 miles (260.4 km). It is an urban freeway within the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area and is mostly a two-lane rural road elsewhere in the state.
The Goodhue Pioneer State Trail is a multi-use recreational rail trail in southeastern Minnesota, USA. The 10 miles (16 km) of trail currently exist in two segments, separated by a six-mile (10 km) gap. The four-mile (6 km) northern segment is a paved trail running from Red Wing, Minnesota, to the Hay Creek section of the Richard J. Dorer Memorial Hardwood State Forest near Hay Creek Township. The 5.5-mile (8.9 km) southern section is a natural-surface trail running northward from the Zumbrota Covered Bridge Park in Zumbrota, Minnesota. The trail corridor follows an abandoned Chicago Great Western Railway segment that was originally built by the Duluth, Red Wing, & Southern Railroad in 1888, and abandoned in 1964 following a derailment.
The Glacial Lakes State Trail is a multi-use recreational rail trail in south-central Minnesota, USA. Developed from a former Burlington Northern Railroad grade, it traverses a landscape of lakes and gently rolling hills formed 10,000 years ago during the last glacial period. The trail currently extends 22 miles (35 km) from outside Willmar through the communities of Spicer, New London, and Hawick to the North Fork Crow River. Beyond that the undeveloped railbed is open for some recreational uses for another 22 miles (35 km) through the city of Richmond, but some of the original railroad bridges are closed. The developed section is continuously paved, with parallel grass trackways or shoulders for horseback riding along the whole route. Bicyclists can connect to a 3-mile (4.8 km) roadside route to access Sibley State Park.
The Heartland State Trail is a multi-use recreational rail trail in north-central Minnesota, USA. It runs 49 miles (79 km) between Park Rapids and Cass Lake, intersecting with the Paul Bunyan State Trail around Walker. The entire route is paved, with a parallel grass trackway along the southern half for horseback riding and mountain biking. The northern half of the trail has some parallel trackway for snowmobiles. A 4-mile (6.4 km) segment north of Walker traverses very hilly terrain to appeal to snowmobilers; other users can follow a marked alternate route on paved road shoulders.
Luce Line Trail is a 74.9-mile (120.5 km), shared-use path in Minnesota, United States, that stretches from Cosmos to Minneapolis. The trail system was built after 1995 when the Luce Line Railroad was abandoned west of Interstate 494. The previous line extended 104 miles (167 km) to Gluek. The multi-use trail has varying surface features, though it is primarily made up of crushed limestone or aggregate base, and the section from Cosmos to Cedar Mills is undeveloped, as are the sections from just west of Hutchinson to Winsted and east of Plymouth. The trail is maintained by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources west of Vicksburg Lane, where it is named Luce Line State Trail. East of Vicksburg Lane, it is maintained by the Three Rivers Park District and named Luce Line Regional Trail.
Minnesota Scenic Byways are a system of roads in the U.S. state of Minnesota which pass through areas of scenic, cultural, or recreational significance. There are currently 22 scenic byways in the system with a total length of 2,948 miles (4,744 km). Eight of these byways are also designated as National Scenic Byways, and the North Shore Scenic Drive is further designated as an All-American Road.
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