10/07/2026
A large group of Prospector ATV Club members went to Duluth Tuesday to address the St. Louis County board on an agenda to renew a five-year agreement for a short 1/8 mile trail section that connects Bear Head Lake Road to Trygg Road in Eagles Nest Township so riders can get from the Taconite Trail to Trail #4. The Eagles Nest Town board opposed the renewal as well as language that would ask the DNR to look at opening the Taconite Trail to ATV use so riders could avoid traveling on roads like they do now. Several township residents and Club members spoke in favor of the renewal and the DNR request. County commissioners voted unanimously to grant another five-year permit and send a request to the DNR on opening the Taconite. There was a push at the meeting to continue to look at alternative routes, but also frustration that the township has rejected our previous offers. The township has pushed for a northern route that landowners who have given us permission to cross their land do not accept. That route would include significant wetland impacts and the need for approval from more private landowners. A few months ago, the Eagles Nest Township supervisors hired a consultant to create what is called an ATV Overlay District to try to give them the ability to reject ATV trails. As we saw clearly yesterday, the County Board has the final say in what happens on county roads and county land.
