Trail Description

Itasca State Park to Becker County Line

Currently, there is about 15 miles of certified trail from the middle of Itasca State Park west to the Headquarters trailhead at Clearwater Co. Hwy 39. This is referred to as the Bad Medicine section because of its proximity to Bad Medicine Lake. Several miles of new, yet-to-be certified trail have also been built west and south from Co. 39 to the State Highway 113 trailhead and Elbow Lake Rd. Interestingly, this section of the NCT, once it turns and heads south, follows the Laurentian (north-south Continental) Divide.

New trail is also being constructed further south and west from Elbow Lake Rd. (where another trailhead will soon be built) toward Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge and, ultimately, the City of Frazee. A side trail will depart from the NCT a short ways south of Elbow Lake Rd. heading west for the Many Point Scout Camp property. Note: As of July 2010, the NCT is completed south to about 1-mile south of Old Many Point Trail. This is about 3.5 miles south of Elbow Lake Road.

The Laurentian Lakes Chapter worked with Becker County to obtain a $100,000 Trail Legacy Grant from the Minnesota DNR that will help complete the NCT in Becker County by hiring the Minnesota Conservation Corps. Work is currently underway with public and private landowners to determine the NCT route south of Co. Hwy 35. It is hoped that all of this trail will be completed by 2012.