Enhanced trout stream connectivity creates new access to recreational activities
The Munger State Trail will reopen to the public on July 1 with enhancements to natural resources and recreation.
A section of trail between Pulaski Street and Riverwest Drive has been closed since November during restoration of Knowlton Creek where it intersects the Munger Trail. The restoration of this 200-foot stretch will enhance stream stability and the creek’s capacity to handle extreme high- and low-flow conditions. This will better support fish movement and natural stream functions. The project also improves wildlife passage under the trail and enhances user experience. Knowlton Creek supports a naturally reproducing brook trout population, and several restoration measures focused on this species’ habitat needs.
Prior to the project, creek flow and access to the stream was hindered by a narrow box culvert and a tall earthen embankment built for the historic railway. Thirteen vertical feet of material, approximately the height of a one-story house, was removed from a section of the Munger Trail embankment. The undersized culvert was replaced by a 100-foot-long steel truss bridge. This design improves recreational connections to the creek, creating new opportunities for birding, photography, fishing and other quiet moments in nature. Recreationists enjoying the Munger Trail can also appreciate picturesque views of Spirit Mountain and the St. Louis River from the site.
Through the Get Out MORE (Modernize Outdoor Recreation Experiences) initiative, started in 2023, the DNR and its partners are working to help ensure Minnesotans of all abilities and interests enjoy a world-class recreation system, whatever outdoor experience they choose. Projects are planned, underway or complete in 63 of Minnesota’s 87 counties, and include:
- Improving accessibility at existing facilities; providing more adaptive equipment at state parks, recreation areas and wildlife management areas; improving roads that provide access to outdoor recreation opportunities; and enhancing wayfinding, signage, and maps at DNR-managed public lands throughout Minnesota.
- Modernizing camping and related infrastructure at two state parks, which will serve as examples for future modernization and improvement projects.
- Updating more than 100 of Minnesota’s 1,700 state-managed PWA sites, including 40-60 large-scale projects and 75-125 small-scale projects.
- Investing in fish hatcheries to improve safe and bio-secure water supplies, increase fish production capacity, and improve staff safety to help sustain high-quality fish populations and support fishing opportunities into the future.
- Collaborating with local governments on more than 80 shore fishing site improvements.
- Modernizing culverts, and removing and modifying dams to enhance climate resiliency, and improve overall stream ecology.
Learn more about these on the DNR website.
Funding for this project was also provided by the Outdoor Heritage Fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature and recommended by the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council to restore, protect, and enhance Minnesota's wetlands, prairies, forests, and habitat for fish, game, and wildlife.
The project received additional funding from a mitigation fund in the project area.