|
|
|
Introduction: Welcome
to the Edge of the Wilderness
|
MN 38 was authorized
by the legislature in 1933, and runs from Grand Rapids, in the
middle of a resort area, to a sparsely settled area miles north
of town. For most of it's history served primarily as a logging
road. Although it is still used as such, with the growth of tourism
in northern Minnesota it is now also serving as a tourist attraction
because of it's scenic beauty.
Several years ago, MN 38 was designated the Edge of
the Wilderness Scenic Byway. It was one of the first scenic byways
designated in Minnesota, and is the only one reckonized by the
state, the national byways council, and the national forest service.
It is also one of the most promoted. At shelters at major entrances,
you can pick up a brochure listing imformation corresponding to numbered
turnoffs along the route.
In the next few years, parts of the byway will
be rebuilt as Minnesota got some pork money for the project.
One of the consulting engineers described it to me as an unusual
project; trying to improve the road without overimproving and destroying
it's character. Stay tuned...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Looking north at
the start of the byway.
|
|
Closeup of the
first northbound signs, visable in the distance of the above photo.
|
|
Minnesota Route 38 and
the byway begin at US 2 in Grand Rapids. Although you can't
see it, I'm standing in the parking lot of Blandin Paper, the town's
largest employer. Judy Garland grey up here, and the school she attended
is now a museum and cultural center. Grand Rapids also marks the start
of the Mesaba Iron Range, which supplied much of the steel to the US
starting in the late 1800s and through both world wars.
The second photo is a closeup of first northbound
reassurance shields for MN 38 and the byway in Grand Rapids.
Signs that have been colored in, similar to the monument sign,
are shown on official documents, so I think that they will eventually
be installed on the road itself.
Note the motif of the eagle and evergreen trees,
a theme repeated on other scenic byway highway markers. Both have
become somewhat iconic of the state. Spotting eagles isn't an
everyday occurance, but if you live here long enough and travel,
you'll see a few of them. Evergreen trees are of course extremely
common, although they're only native to the northeast and virtually
all of the old growth is gone. One of the best remaining old growth stands
is in Scenic State Park, only a few miles from the byway.
|
|
|
|
The byway at the
nothern edge of Grand Rapids.
|
|
Minnesota Route 38 passes
by this lake on the northen edge of Grand Rapids
|
|
|
Mile 13: Chippewa National Forest
|
|
Monument sign at
the entrance to Chippewa National Forest.
|
|
About 10 miles north
of town, the byway enters Chippewa National Forest. Chippewa
is the French word for the Ojibway Indians, who moved into this
region from the eastern part of the continent, in the process driving
the Dakota (Sioux) Indians out of the forests into the prairie.
|
|
|
Sidetrip: Camping in the Wilderness
|
|
The sun sets
behind my tent.
|
|
Clouds of fire
over Moose Lake
|
|
By this time on my trip
I had been driving all day from the cities (you can see how it's
getting dark in the previous pictures), and it was time to pull into
camp for the night. This was at a State Forest campground. State and
Forest campgrounds are typically just a gravel drive and a pair of
latrines, but they're inexpensive and usually in very attractive settings.
I've been camping about two dozen times, everywhere from
among 20,000 people at Cornerstone Music Festival in the mud and
heat of downstate Illinois over the fourth, to having to scrape ice
off my tent during a backpacking trip on the Superior Hiking Trail,
to canoeing in both the BWCA and Quetico. I've tried camping alone a
few times, this being the first.
As much as I like to think of myself as an outdoors person,
I can't say I really like the experience. It's OK with friends in
remote areas, or at Cornerstone, but if a motel is an option I'd rather
do that. If the goal is to save a few bucks, camping is simply not worth
the hassle. As it turns out here I I brought all sorts of food along
I planned to cook for breakfast, but never could get a fire going and
drove back to the McDonalds in Grand Rapids.
|
|
|
Mile 23: Laurentian Divide
|
|
The Laurentian
Divide.
|
|
Closeup of the
sign visable in the above photo at left.
|
|
Besides the major continental
divide in the west, there are an number of smaller ones. This hill
marks the Laurentian divide. Water to the left flows to the Gulf of
Mexico, and water to the right flows to Hudson Bay. In many places along
the byway, including here, there are pullouts or waysides at points
of interest.
|
|
|
|
Straight, rolling
section of MN 38
|
|
One of the straighter sections, but
indicative of the many little dips along the road.
The forest of birch and young pines is very typical
for northeastern Minnesota. Originally northeastern Minnesota was
covered with towering red and white pines, but around the turn of
the century loggers cleared virtually every last one. Farmers moved
in and attempted to make a living, but the acidic soil which is good
at growing coniferous trees is terrible at growing crops, and the
farms were abandoned.
"Weed" trees like birch and aspen grew up, and
are slowly being replaced by white pine and spruce. Red pines, however,
need fire to grow, and since fires are still artificially supressed
they haven't made a comeback.
|
|
|
|
Big Fork River
Bridge at Bigfork
|
|
Bigfork, population
469, is the only incorporated town along the byway.
Like the rest of the area, it got it's start and still primarily functions
as a base for logging, but is trying to diversify into tourism. Not
the fieldstone accents on the bridge, to match fieldstone accents on
other structures along the byway.
|
|
|
Sidetrip:
Scenic State Park
|
|
|
|
Old growth pine
trees at Scenic State Park
|
|
Bigfork is the turnoff
to visit Scenic State Park. The 3,000 acre park, which was originally
to be called Sandwick Lake, was created in 1921 out of land that was
predominantly state-owned. The park contains one of the few remnants
of old growth forest remaining in the state.
Scenic is one of the best units in the state park system. It's
large and unique enough to be worthy of a state park (unlike Monson
Lake), not overcrowded (unlike Interstate), and has worthwhile scenery
(unlike William O'brien). It's going to stay serene and seculded
too, as most of the land surrounding the park is also owned by the state
and federal governments, and the distance precludes day trips from
the metro.
|
|
|
|
|
|
This giant mosquito
is found in Effie.
|
|
Byways End
|
|
This whimsical scupture
in the town of Effie, made of a culvert and rebar, pays homage
to the unnofficial Minnesota state bird, the mosquito. If you must
know, yes they're bad up here, but like Seattle's rain or Florida's
humidity, they're just something that you get used to that comes with
the territory.
The second photo shows the ending of the byway; the mosquito
is in a park off to the left. This photo, taken just a few weeks
after the 9/11 attacks is a personal favorite of mine. Showing flags
flying even in this remote corner of the country, it somehow captures
the essence of Amerca.
|
|
|
|
Page last
updated: May 2006
|
