December 6, 2012: Gateway Trail, Cayuga Street/Far Eastern End (St. Paul)

Join the group for a hike in St. Paul along a portion of the scenic Gateway Trail, a "rails-to-trails" converted trail that constitutes the Metro area portion of the Munger Trail. The trail was originally a Soo Line RailRoad rail line. The rail line was abandoned over 20 years ago and, after much controversy and some lawsuits, was converted into a biking/hiking/horse-riding trail by the State Department of Natural Resources. Willard Munger (1911-1999) was a long time State legislator from Duluth, the last Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party member elected to a State office, and an ardent environmentalist. His political accomplishments include authoring a ban on the pesticide DDT in Minnesota before a national ban was enacted, creating sewage sanitary districts, rivers and wildland protection, recreational trails, and authoring legislation that created the state's Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund. The Soo Line RailRoad was initially established to provide Midwest grain farmers with an alternative rail transportation route. Because the east terminus of the line was Sault Ste. Marie, the railroad took the "Soo" name. The Soo Line incorporated the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic RailRoad early in the 20th Century, assumed much of the former Milwaukee Road trackage and rolling stock in 1985, and suffered the subsequent spin off of the core of the original railroad to Wisconsin Central Ltd. The Soo Line is owned by the Canadian Pacific RailRoad and the Soo Line rolling stock is being redesignated and repainted as CP equipment.

From I-35E just after trveling through downtown St. Paul, take the Pennsylvania Avenue exit (Note: If you come from the east of downtown St. Paul on I-94 and exit onto I-35E, you will join I-35E just north of the Pennsylvania Street exit) and go east (right) briefly to Mississippi Street. Proceed north (left) on Mississippi Street a couple of blocks to Cayuga Street. Turn west (left) onto Cayuga Street and go under I-35E. Immediately after crossing under I-35E, at L'Orient Street, turn south (left) and park on the street. We will meet at the corner of Cayuga and L'Orient, near the Cayuga Playground. Map to hike start point, Cayuga Street at L'Orient Street

Map to Cayuga Street and L'Orient Street, St. Paul

Mn DNR Directions to Gateway Trail trailhead

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This webpage was last updated on December 3, 2012.