PAGE 10
GREAT NORTHERN NEWS
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2017
Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway Offers 54 Miles Of Adventure For Outdoor Enthusiasts
Story and photos submitted by selected PBSBA board members and advisors There’s nothing better than having a great time doing a thing or two that’s a little different from your regular good times. How about keeping your eyes peeled on fast-moving creek water looking for the champagne of minnows, the horny-head chub, or hearing an outhouse tell you a story. Maybe you prefer to stand in the same place that explorer Zeb Pike did as he looked out over Hay Creek in 1805 during his mission to map the Mississippi River from its source. These things and a whole lot more are waiting for you and fellow adventurers along the 54 mile Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway (PBSB). While the route can be a gorgeous, peaceful drive for those who like a quieter good time, it’s just as inclined to be an active adventurer’s choice for fun too. With the grand opening of the Linda Ulland Memorial Gardens at the Corps’ Cross Lake Recreational Area this spring, fun times along the PBSB took a leap, as the results of a working partnership between the Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway Association and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) were showcased to the public. The story-telling outhouse is located here. So is a story-telling dam gate, complete with the actual wheel that was manually turned to open those heavy gates so many years ago. Paver paths guide visitors to the butterfly garden, a foraging garden highlighting useable plants that can actually be foraged in area forests, Paul Bunyan’s footprints, Babe the Blue
in Island Lake Woods where the current Veterans Memorial Walking Trail is located. Sit on a bench at the overlook and imagine what things must have been like back in 1805. There is more to do and see along the Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway than you ever dreamed of. Take a look at the website today (www. paulbunyanscenicbyway.org) and have a great time doing a thing or two that’s a little different from your regular good times! Excerpted from the PBSBA website, “Tour in your cars, pedal your bikes, or just put on some good walking shoes. Here’s your invite to the lakes and lands that helped give life to the Great Northwoods legend of Paul Bunyan. Recreation comes naturally along Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway.”
Garden visitors listen to audio of historical, fun, and educational info at this interpretive talking box which is a replica of one of the manually-operated dam gates from the original log-built dam at this Crosslake site.
ox laden with saddlebags of garden produce, and lots of other intriguing things...including a picture-perfect mosaic-surrounded doorway that beckons folks into the exhibit room where both PBSB and USACE displays hold the attention of even the youngest adventurers. The LUMG, like all the projects along the Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway, are made possible through donations of all kinds. To lend a hand yourself, there are engravable pavers to pur-
chase (paulbunyanscenicbyway.org/content/ paver-brick-order-form), volunteer opportunities, membership in the PBSBA, insight you might provide on potential grant opportunities and donations of time, services and funds. So, what about Zeb Pike? Only in his mid-twenties at the time, Pike was sent by President Thomas Jefferson to map the Mississippi from its source. Entries from his diary indicate he and his party camped on an island
Above, the area’s popular Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway Map features five county roads making up the 54-mile Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway, interpretive kiosk sites and location markers for lodging. It also lists current information for lodging, restaurants, attractions, parks, trails and beaches. Right, a map of the first phase of the Linda Ulland Memorial Gardens, drafted by Lakeside Lawn & Landscape, Inc.
A SPLASH COLOR 33rd AnnualOF Art Show The Red Bag by Laurel LaBorde
2016 Winner of the Crosslake Art Show
Birches
by Mary Wolke
August 10, 11, 12, 2017 • Crosslake Community Center 14126 Daggett Pine Road, Crosslake
Pine River was added to the Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway in 2003, making the byway a true bi-county amenity. The original byway was contained wholly within Crow Wing County, but when the byway was extended to Pine River, it crossed into Cass County. Through the efforts of the Pine River Chamber of Commerce and its Director, John Wetrosky, along with Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway President Lynn Sharenbroich and others, the byway was extended 5.5 miles into the community of Pine River. The effort included naming sites along the byway into Pine River. The sites included a boulder field, wild rice farm, upland meadow and creek where timber wolves are spotted from time to time, the Pine River Dam, airport, historic Pine River Railroad Depot and a Mesabi- Duluth red caboose. Since the addition the byway has installed a kiosk on the banks of the Pine River outlining some of the history of the town. The weekly Pine River Duck Races take place adjacent to the kiosk. The extension required the endorsement of the Minnesota Scenic Byways Commission, the Crow Wing County and Cass County Commissioners and highway departments, the City of Pine River, the Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway Board and the Pine River Chamber of Commerce Board. Today, many bicycle riders enjoy the fifty-three mile loops on the byway, which has become a National Scenic Byway. The Pine River Information Center hands out hundreds of byway maps each year to folks from all around the United States, Canada and overseas.