Park Rapids area Biking

Many of you simply enjoy relaxing on the lake during your vacation, but we also know there are quite a few that like to be active! Listed below are a couple places that you may want to check out, for both on and off-road biking.

Itasca State Park (aprox. 15 min by car) – If you don’t have bikes of your own, Itasca Sports is a bike shop located in the park and rents all types of bikes, along with Burly’s if you have kids too young to ride. They recently re-paved a new 6 mile bike trail that is beautiful, but a little hilly. There is an additional 10 miles of trail that shares a one way road with vehicles, and takes you on a loop around the park. This is a very unique route with a lot of beautiful scenery.

Heartland Trail (aprox. 20 min by car) – On the contrary to Itasca, this trail is very flat and straight. This was an abandoned railroad and goes from Park Rapids up to Cass Lake, which is approximately 50 miles. Not quite as scenic as Itasca, but a very nice paved trail and goes through several small towns along the way. It’s a perfect trail to stop and have lunch in Dorset or Nevis. There is also a bike shop that rents bikes in Park Rapids if you would rather not bring your own.

Maplelag Resort (aprox 40 min by car) This is a well-known cross country ski and mountain biking resort that has almost 40 miles of trail. Many of the cross country ski trails are opened up for mountain biking use during the summer, but there are also several single track mountain bike trails. The area is fairly hilly, and provides a challenge for those looking for more of a technical ride.

Minimum Maintenance roads/snowmobile trails – (within biking distance of the resort) – Although these aren’t official biking trails, there are quite a few small roads/trails that take you through some beautiful country right around the resort. Many are snowmobile trails in the winter, or old logging roads not being used anymore. They aren’t technical or very difficult to navigate but are fun to explore and very convenient for a quick trip right from the cabin. We have cruiser bikes that are available for our guests to use free of charge if you would like to take a spin and check out the area!