+ Cuyuna Lakes 101 (click to open)

About Cuyuna Lakes

• Walk Score: 51. Walk Score measures the walkability of any address based on the distance to nearby places and pedestrian friendliness.

• Bike Score: 53. Bike Score measures whether an area is good for biking based on bike lanes and trails, hills, road connectivity, and destinations.

• League of American Cyclists Community Rating: BRONZE

Maps

• Trail Map

It’s not about where you were, it’s about where you want to go. The town of Crosby, Minnesota was founded solely as a place to support large-scale mining. But when the mining business finally dried up over 30 years ago, so did the jobs, and the town struggled to find its next purpose. Beginning in the 1980s, a few visionary locals recognized what a gem these now empty wooded lake lands could be, if only they were protected. It took ten years, but in 1993 the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area was created, laying the foundation for something amazing. When the idea of cutting bike trails through those woods was pitched, it wasn’t universally popular, but local bikers knew the dirt was golden, and they slowly convinced enough others to get the critical mass to go forward.

Fast forward to the present, with mountain biking tourists coming from all over the world, renting bikes, buying coffee / food / beer / lodging, and the town is now full of believers. Riding the trails they’ve built today, it’s hard to see how anyone – even those with only limited offroad experience – could fail to be convinced. There are extensive beginner-friendly trails that make it easy to build skills. Branching off from those are more challenging subsections for those who wish to get rowdy. Punctuating all these trails are gorgeous, clear lakes, with tons of places to hop in, if you want to take a dip.

And all of this is reachable from wherever you’re staying in Crosby, without having to drive anywhere. Trails pick up right from downtown, making everything effortless and easy. Trail signage is very, very good, which means you don’t have to navigate electronically if you don’t want to. If you do what we did, renting (top shelf!) bikes from the excellent Red Raven bike shop / café, you can sit down to a cold beer and a quick snack when you roll back in to turn in your rental bikes, before heading back to your hotel to clean up and think about dinner. If you’re in any way mountainbike-curious, there aren’t many better places to go than this, anywhere. Just watch out for the poison oak, my friends. It’s no joke.

+ Biking the Trails and Town (click to open)

Etiquette

When riding trails, the biggest thing is to make sure you don’t the wrong direction on a 1-way trail. They’re marked, so just make sure you pay attention. If you have a faster group coming up behind you on a trail, it’s nice to pull over and let them by once it’s safe – and “safe” means that you aren’t rushing, that there’s room for you to pull over at the edge of the trail, and that you are NOT STEPPING INTO POISON IVY. On 2-way trails, people climbing uphill always have the right of way over those going downhill. And finally, if you’re going to stop riding to talk, make sure you don’t block a trailhead, a path, or a curb cut where people need to go.

Safety

There are two main hazards when riding these trails: Crashing, and poison ivy. Mountain biking is inherently a little risky, which is what makes it fun. You’re a little more likely to come off your bike doing this than you are just biking around town running errands, so dress accordingly… you’ll want a good helmet (I require a visor on mine for shade), gloves, good footwear, and ideally some knee and/or elbow pads. But there are miles and miles of very easy trails here, so if you’re not an advanced offroad rider yet, don’t stress about crashing. Go your own pace, stay on the green trails, stay loose, and have fun! As for the plantlife hazards, you’ll want to look up what the western species of poison ivy looks like before you start riding, so you know what to watch for. And even then, treat anything smaller than a tree like it personally hates you wants to see you dead. One of the Bikabout crew, who shall remain nameless, contracted the dreaded rash in the –ABSOLUTE—LAST—place you’d want to get it, and it was a life-altering experience for the next few weeks that we won’t go into here. If you’re bringing a dog, remember that they can get the oil on their fur, and then pass it to you when you pet them later.

Security

Our hotel, Crosby Lofts, had ground-level bike garage parking that was breath-takingly awesome. It was very easy to park our bikes vertically on the wall and lock them up. If your lodging doesn’t have this, then as usual, try to get your bike(s) into your room. The town is small and friendly, but it’s also a known biking magnet destination, so a little caution would still be smart.

Crosby Culture

We found the locals very happy to have us there. They embrace bike tourism as their next big thing, so they’re glad to have people like you come and stay, buy food, rent bikes, and have a good time. The town itself is very typical for a small midwestern town… pretty lawns, big deciduous trees, plenty of lakes everywhere, a lot of smiles and waves, and nobody in a big hurry.

Best Trails in Cuyuna Lakes

+ Bikes (click to open)

Rentals

RENTAL SHOPS

• Red Raven - wife-husband owned bike cafe with food and beer in the front and stellar bike rentals, sales and service in the back. Make sure to check out their merchandise. $50+ for 4 or 8 hours or full day for a hard tail or full suspension mountain bike.
• Cykel - $40+ for 4 or 8 hours or full day for hard tail or full suspension mountain bike.

SPINLISTER

• "Airbnb for bikes"-rent a wide variety of bikes from locals

+ Eats, Drinks and Sights (click to open)

Places to...

• EAT - Rafferty's Pizza, Red Raven
• DRINK - Cuyuna Brewing, Hard Water Lounge

+ Hotels & Camping (click to open)

• Crosby Lofts - rooms with 1-4 beds are $200+ | 30 West Main Street, Crosby | 218-325-3317
  Amenities: bike garage with roll-up garage door coded access, internationally recognized bike trails within a mile, bike wash station, bike mechanic stand and tools, roofdeck, located downtown with plenty of eats and drinks within walking distance

Camping / Cabins / Yurts

• True North Base Camp - trailside huts | 825 1st St SW, Crosby | +218-833-2267
  Amenities: located on the Cuyuna Lakes trail system

+ Transportation (click to open)

• Brainerd and Crow Wing Public Transit (Map) - $4 one-way from Brainerd/Baxter to Crosby

Allowed: Conventional, single seat, two-wheeled bikes. Both wheels must fit into the bike rack wheel slots, and the support arm/hook must fit over the top of the bike wheel. The weight limit on the bus bike racks is 55 pounds per loadable position.

Not allowed: Tandem, recumbent, three wheeled, solid wheeled, and gas-powered bikes.

TRAIN

• Empire Builder (Chicago - Milwaukee - Minneapolis - Spokane - Portland/Seattle) - "Bicycles/bicycle trailers may be checked in a bicycle container for $10, in lieu of a piece of baggage. Bicycle boxes are sold at most staffed locations for $15 per box."

Bus

• Greyhound (Minneapolis - Baxter) - Greyhound is not a bike friendly bus line so plan on leaving your bike at home and renting on arrival.

AIRLINES

These airlines fly into Minneapolis airport.

• Alaska Air- $25 to check bike
• Delta- $150 to check bike
• Frontier- $75 to check bike
• Southwest Airlines- FREE bike check in place of one piece of luggage
• Sun Country Airlines- $75. Sun Country will accept non-motorized touring or racing bicycles with single seats. Bicycles must have the handlebars fixed sideways and the pedals removed, or be placed in a cardboard container, or the pedals and the handlebars must be encased in plastic foam or similar material.