Gunflint Trail
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| Gunflint Trail | |
CR 12, the Gunflint Trail, highlighted in red
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| Route information | |
| Maintained by Cook County Highway Department | |
| Length: | 56.60 mi (91.09 km) |
| Major junctions | |
| South end: |
 MN 61 in Grand Marais
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| North end: | Near Saganaga Lake |
| Location | |
| Counties: | Cook |
| Highway system | |
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County Roads in Cook County Inter-County Highways |
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County Road 12, also known as the Gunflint Trail, or County State-Aid Highway 12, is a 57-mile (92 km) paved roadway in Cook County, Minnesota, that begins in Grand Marais and ends at Saganaga Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA), near the U.S. border with Ontario. It provides access to many of the entry points in the BWCAW.
Originally a foot path for travelers from inland lakes to Lake Superior, the trail was eventually widened into a roadway, and designated as County Road 12 (CR 12). It now serves as a route to lodges, outfitters, hiking trails and the lakes and rivers of the BWCA. A small number of people, numbering in the hundreds, have full-time residences or businesses along the road, though thousands have cabins or other part-time residential properties.
The Ham Lake Fire of spring 2007 severely impacted the Upper Gunflint Trail, burning over 40,000 acres (160 km2) in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Ontario's Quetico Provincial Park. The fire lasted several weeks and claimed almost 200 structures, although no one was seriously injured or killed. It was started accidentally by an unattended campfire at a campsite on Ham Lake. The fire drew national attention and a visit from Governor Tim Pawlenty, who inspected the damage first-hand. Despite the significant damage to the forest, most outfitters and commercial businesses have reopened and access to the region's lakes has resumed.
Glaciers created the area's geographical features, forming basins running east to west with the region's bedrock, and when they retreated, lakes formed. The Ojibwa and French explorers found chert, which produces sparks, at Gunflint Lake and gave the trail its name, In contemporary times, both fire and wind put stress on the area.
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Wikipedia