By Tom Hintgen

Otter Tail County Correspondent

County commissioners, on March 10, gave support to a grant application made to the Minnesota Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) for construction of a 10-foot-wide, five-mile multi-use bituminous segment trail as part of the Glacial Edge Regional Trail in Otter Tail County. 

This trail will run from the county garage north of Fergus Falls to Maplewood State Park.

“The Glacial Edge Trail is split into three county segments,” said County Parks and Trails Director Kevin Fellbaum. “In addition, there are two segments of the Glacial Edge Trail that are in the city of Fergus Falls.”

  The resolution that Fellbaum presented to the five-person county board on March 11 was for the Cabbage Hill Segment running from County Garage 1, north of Fergus Falls, up to Schmidts Bridge alongside County Highway 1 and County Highway 3. The trail will run northward to the southwest section of Maplewood State Park.

“The Cabbage Hill segment work will be based on success with our grant application,” Fellbaum added. “The Maplewood Segment should be going out for bid in the next month or two. The middle segment work between those two won’t take place until we get the Maplewood and Cabbage Hill segments built.”

The preferred Glacial Edge Trail route through Otter Tail County was initially identified through the Otter Tail County-wide Trail Master Plan. This route was designated as a High Priority Paved Trail with emphasis on connection from Fergus Falls to Maplewood State Park, in turn connecting to the Heart of the Lakes Regional Trail that runs from Pelican Rapids to Perham.

Fellbaum said the Glacial Edge trail projects have widespread support from county residents to connect the Heart of the Lakes Regional Trail in Maplewood State Park down to Fergus Falls and connecting with the state’s Central Lakes Trail which runs southeast of Fergus Falls to Alexandria and points beyond.