Lester Park
Difficulty: Intermediate (but 90% non-technical)
Length: 4.5 mile loop
The Story: The singletrack at Lester has been around for about a decade. Originally it was roughed in deer trails and some ninja built trail that was unofficial. In 2009, the City of Duluth authorized COGGS to officially manage this trail and we commenced connecting the different sections and improving sustainability and flow. We worked with the Yes! Duluth program who provided student workers to work with a COGGS supervisor for 25 hours per week throughout the summer of 2010. The trail was complete in July of 2010 and hosted the Great Hawk Chase Minnesota Mountain Bike Series race in August.
As Lester is the most recent COGGS trailwork project, it is our best built trail to date. By a substantial margin, it manages water better than any other local trail. It is rare that the trail is too wet to ride the day after a rain. The trail rides along the ridges above Amity Creek on either side of Seven Bridges Rd. The access points are on either side of the 2nd bridge and the 7th bridge. Both have small gravel parking areas nearby.
Beautiful views of the river valley and smooth, flowing singletrack are what you will find when you ride Lester. There are a handful of rocky or rooty sections, but overall the trail is non-technical and the best option in the Duluth area if you are newer to mountain biking. There are several game and spur trails that off shoot the main trail but if you follow the white COGGS signs it is easy to find the whole loop.
In the summer of 2011, professional trailbuilder Aaron Rodgers of Copper Harbor, Michigan fame, selected a corridor for 4 additional miles of trail in Lester Park. COGGS volunteers built 1 mile along the east side of Seven Bridges Rd down to the community park in the fall of 2011 and having a professional trailbuilding finish the remaining 3 miles is the top priority of Phase I of the Duluth Traverse.
Note on the map below that the right hand side points North, not East. Also, the purple trail is marked as "Mountain Biking" but is open to foot traffic as well.
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