Paul Bunyan Trail Access — Attraction in Nisswa

Just rode 90 miles on the Paul Bunyan Trail...but only covered 45 miles of the trail (due to backtracking to our vehicle). I so much wanted to give the trail a higher rating! Unfortunately, there were a couple of reasons why I didn't. First, a storm the night before our ride knocked a tree down over the path near Brainard. Given we had an early start, I expected the tree to be gone on our return trip, some 5 hours later. I was disappointed to find that not the case. And one couldn't just ride around the tree, off the path.

Second, when we started our ride, I noticed the cracks in the trail were being maintained, eliminating the many bumps one encounters when riding on paved trails. However, on day two, we began our ride at Pequot Lakes and rode north beyond Backus, and found the cracks in terrible shape. I would recommend avoiding this section of the trail for this reason.

Other than that, I really do like the trail and look forward to my next trip, which will...

I bought a new rode bike in Brainerd this spring and planned to ride the trail for the first time this summer. I rode from Brainerd to Pine River. To my disappointment, the trail was largely in disrepair. My front wheel was even jarred loose from the thumping of asphalt cracks filled with tar. I probably should have bought a mtn bike. Recently the DNR filled some of the cracks that had expanded quite wide with tar again and topped the tar with toilet paper, south of Nisswa to at least mile mark 17 and probably all the way to Brainerd. I contacted them to find there was no more funding for any other work on the trail. The trail has significant asphalt cracks from Nisswa to Hackensack with only an occasional smooth section of trail. Pequot Lakes, Jenkins, and Pine River are particularly in bad shape. I have heard that the trail from Hackensack north is in better shape and hope to ride that part...

Rode the trail 15 miles. It was a nice ride. The trail provides shade and there are benches along the way to stop abd rest the bum or get hydrated. Also there are plenty of opportunities to stop and shop in Nisswa or other small towns along the way. We had a great time and so did others as evidenced by the smiles we saw...