Redhead Mountain Bike Trail Opens in Chisholm

Redhead Mountain Bike Trail, located next to the Minnesota Discovery Center, opened to the public on June 12 and has already been packed with riders. 

CHISHOLM, Minn. – It’s been a long time coming to get a mountain biking trail in Chisholm.

“They started working on this last summer and got 15 miles down and now they’re here again working on the next 15 miles,” consultant Gary Sjoquist said.

Redhead Mountain Bike Trail, located next to the Minnesota Discovery Center, opened to the public on June 12 and has already been packed with riders.

“You can look at the parking lot on a Friday; there’s a bunch of cars here, a bunch of people here who would have never been here before. I think it could make quite the difference in the little town of Chisholm,” rider John Ostmoe said.

One of the main goals for building the trail is to help bring in new riders and help kids fall in love with the sport.

“We’re already seeing youngsters and teenagers and young adults coming out here to try out riding, mountain biking for the first time,” Sjoquist said.

Whether you’ve been riding for years or are getting on a bike for the first time, Redhead has a trail for everyone.

“People can start out at the beginner level, get used to riding and flowing and climbing hills, and then graduate into the blue trails where it’s a little more daunting, a little more technically challenging, a little more fun. And then eventually, your skills get to the point where you can ride some of the expert trails which are quite technically difficult,” Sjoquist added.

And the views are enough to bring people back.

“There’s just stunning scenery, rocky canyon walls, crystal blue water, beginner, intermediate and expert runs. It’s unlike anything really in the Midwest,” Sjoquist said.

“The views here, unlike most of the trails even in the mine pits, this one you’re down right into the bottom of the pits, so the views are fabulous. Right next to the Orr lake, the Pitt Lakes and such,” Ostmoe added.

The trail is free for people to ride and is even multi-purpose, so people can run or walk through it too, making Chisholm a destination for people looking for an adventure.

“There’s a trail here called fractured falls where you actually ride down into the mine pit and you wind your way through canyon walls like in Utah and you ride over a waterfall and it’s just spectacular. And there’s other trails equally just as mind blowing. You just don’t see this in Minnesota so it’s really worth the effort to come up here and ride,” Sjoquist said.