How motor sports and quiet sports lovers are working together in northern Minnesota

Minnesota outdoors lovers haven’t always played well together: motor sports devotees and quiet sports enthusiasts maintain and use separate trails, with some debating which groups are better stewards of natural resources.

But now, in northern Minnesota, several competing trail groups are setting down a new path.

A collection of mountain biking enthusiasts, ATV riders, hikers, snowmobilers, skiers and community leaders are meeting to find common ground across the Mesabi Range. Their new group, the Arrowhead Coalition of Trails, has a mission built on a shared ideal: Working together to draw more outdoor recreation tourists to the region. They’re talking about sharing volunteers and trail maintenance gear, creating a new marketing plan to represent all of them, and even sharing a vault toilet.

The groups are learning how much each type of sport can benefit their communities:

At its first meeting last month in Virginia, the coalition saw data about the volume of out-of-towners, for example, who rumble on ATVs and side-by-sides on places like the Prospectors Trail system that connects Ely, Tower and nearby towns. And the metro cyclists who sweep into facilities like Redhead Mountain Bike Park in Chisholm.

A University of Minnesota analysis of ATV use in Koochiching, Lake and St. Louis counties found that more than 219,000 riders visited the region in 2023, injecting an estimated $36 million into the economy, with $12 million in labor income. On average, an individual rider spent a little more than $144 per day at local businesses.

The Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota found in 2023 that tourists made up 67% of riders at Redhead and 85% at Giants Ridge, which has won raves for its downhill trails outside of ski season. Most visitors have come from the metro area.

The upshot: Designated trails draw varied visitors to the Arrowhead, and development will drive more tourism.