See Itasca County on Horseback

Itasca County offers a wide variety of horseback riding opportunities  From the state Taconite Trail to more than a dozen local trail systems, you're sure to enjoy riding through the pine needle-lined trails that thread their way through our lake country.

The Taconite Trail is our best known trail system, stretching 165 miles from Grand Rapids to Ely and intersecting with the Arrowhead State Trail just west of Lake Vermillion. The first six miles from Grand Rapids are paved for biking and in-line skating. The remainder of the natural surface trail goes through a few areas that have standing water in the summer, but much of the trail is suitable for horseback riding.

The Taconite Trail winds through forests of birch and aspen intertwined with pine, leading the visitor by many isolated lakes and streams. From Grand Rapids heading north, you see the impact of the taconite and iron mining industry. The northern portion of the trail terrain is rolling and tree covered as it winds through state and national forest land.

The Chippewa National Forest is home to nine different Itasca County Trail Systems.  They include the Clubhouse Loop, Cutfoot Sioux, Dora Lake Loop, Little Ruby Loop, Lost Forty Loop, Simpson Creek, Suomi Hills, Trout Lake, and Wirt-Talmoon Loop.  Click on each of the thumbnail images of the horseback routes below to see a larger map.