National Scenic Trail or Official Route
(MT)
Traveling across the Iron Range of northeast Minnesota, the Mesabi Trail stretches from the Mississippi River in Grand Rapids, to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness near Ely.
Currently approximately 145 miles are finished. When totally complete (in 2-3 years), it will traverse over 165 miles, including a variety of spurs to link 28 communities.
Visitors to the trail will find a 10 foot wide bituminous surface (asphalt paving) built on a combination of old railroad beds, abandoned highway grades, old logging and mining roads, and blazing trail through the forest to get the next community.
The Mesabi Trail is NOT simply a rail-to-trail conversion – it is not flat & straight. The terrain varies from hilly to flat over the entire length. A few hills will test your stamina going up, and your brakes going down – none are greater than an 8% grade – but some are fairly long.
Take a virtual tour of the entire trail, section by section to get a better idea of the terrain. Or, download our paper map and check out the bottom for an elevation chart.
Currently approximately 145 miles are finished. When totally complete (in 2-3 years), it will traverse over 165 miles, including a variety of spurs to link 28 communities.
Visitors to the trail will find a 10 foot wide bituminous surface (asphalt paving) built on a combination of old railroad beds, abandoned highway grades, old logging and mining roads, and blazing trail through the forest to get the next community.
The Mesabi Trail is NOT simply a rail-to-trail conversion – it is not flat & straight. The terrain varies from hilly to flat over the entire length. A few hills will test your stamina going up, and your brakes going down – none are greater than an 8% grade – but some are fairly long.
Take a virtual tour of the entire trail, section by section to get a better idea of the terrain. Or, download our paper map and check out the bottom for an elevation chart.
- Mountain Bike
- E-Bike
- Hike
- Trail Running
- Snowshoe
- Nordic Ski
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Displaying 53
Recent Trail Reports
| status | trail | date | condition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCT - Mesabi Trail | Jul 7, 2021 @ 9:27am Jul 7, 2021 | view | ||
| NCT - Mesabi Trail | May 10, 2020 @ 5:05am May 10, 2020 | view | ||
| NCT - Mesabi Trail | May 10, 2020 @ 5:05am May 10, 2020 | view | ||
| NCT - Mesabi Trail | May 10, 2020 @ 5:05am May 10, 2020 | view | ||
| NCT - Mesabi Trail | May 10, 2020 @ 5:05am May 10, 2020 | view |
Total Trails
53
Total Distance
125 miles
Total Descent
-3,030 ft
Total Climb
3,126 ft
close
Trail Conditions
- Unknown
- Snow Groomed
- Snow Packed
- Snow Covered
- Snow Cover Inadequate
- Freeze/thaw Cycle
- Icy
- Prevalent Mud
- Wet
- Variable
- Ideal
- Dry
- Very Dry
Trail Flow (Ridden Direction)
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The colour categories are based on what percentage of riders are riding a trail in its intended direction.
The colour categories are based on what percentage of riders are riding a trail in its intended direction.
- > 96%
- > 90%
- > 80%
- > 70%
- > 50%
- < 50%
- bi-directional trail
- no data
Trail Last Ridden
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- < 2 days
- < 1 week
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- < 1 month
- < 6 months
- > 6 months
Trail Ridden Direction
The intended direction a trail should be ridden.
- Downhill Only
- Downhill Primary
- Both Directions
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- Uphill Only
- One Direction
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Trail Popularity ?
Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine which trails are ridden the most in the last 9 months.
Trails are compared with nearby trails in the same city region with a possible 25 colour shades.
Think of this as a heatmap, more rides = more kinetic energy = warmer colors.
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- popular
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Activity Recordings
Trailforks users anonymized public ridelogs from the past 6 months.
- mountain biking recent
- mountain biking (>6 month)
- hiking (1 year)
- moto (1 year)
Activity Recordings
Trailforks users anonymized public skilogs from the past 12 months.
- Downhill Ski
- Backcountry Ski
- Nordic Ski
Jump Magnitude Heatmap
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Trail transparency
This official route list of trails is not complete
Average difficulty
Mountain Bike is not supported on all trail sections of this route, see trails for more details.
Trails in Route Distance By Difficulty
Trails in Route Difficulty Totals
- By WillieJacobsz
TRAILFORKS NEMBA - #805 - 147 views