Minnesota trails · Taconite State Trail
Taconite State Trail
A 109.9-mile point-to-point in Minnesota, with 292 ft of climbing. Reaches Hanson Lake Impoundment and other lake destinations. Managed by Minnesota DNR.
Elevation profile
Most of the climbing sits in the first third — 77% of the ascent, between mile 0.0 and mile 91.7. It gives back about 1,908 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Hanson Lake Impoundment (lake)
- Goat Lake (lake)
- Beaver Lake (lake)
- Candle Lake (lake)
- Stumple Lake (lake)
Getting there
Taconite State Trail access. 47.68086, -92.97574 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:56 a.m., the sun rises at 6:28 a.m. and sets at 7:54 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 8:26 p.m. (CDT) — 13 h 26 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 109.9-mile route works out to roughly 40 h 51 min of walking — more than a single day of daylight here, so plan it as an overnight or hike it in sections.