Rainy Lake Bike Trail: Dove Island to Ranier

Our beautiful autumn days in northern Minnesota are numbered. Warmth outside of an insulated domicile will be nothing but a memory in just a few weeks. Winter is about to hit hard! I took advantage of one of our remaining beautiful weather days by going for a bike ride on the the "bike trail" that parallels and sometimes follows Highway 11 on the shoulder. I started from home and rode east towards the Black Bay Fire Tower. Sections of the eastern part of my ride were on the dedicated bike trail,

past random benches

and a sawhorse that had been converted into a "No Trespassing" barrier.

Other parts were in the hilly, winding road bed of Highway 11. At the fire tower I wondered around a bit through an area that looks to see quite a bit of partying, to a nice overlook of Rainy Lake.

Then I was back on the trail, headed east to Sha Sha Resort where I turned around to head west.

The most enjoyable sections of the ride were those that followed the bike path.

There was lots of fall color and,

even though the trail closely parallels the road, not much traffic noise. There were a few views out across a few bays of Rainy Lake

and an interesting glacial erratic perched just alongside the trail.

Eventually the trail met the road and I was forced to ride Highway 11 for a bit until I decided to detour onto the might more lightly trafficked County Road 20. I rode County Road 20 into the small town of Ranier. I passed City Beach and Ranier Beach

on the way and once in town I rode down an alley to discover Finstad's Auto Marine,

which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

At Ranier I turned into a strong headwind for the ride home. Just off County Road 20 on private property, I found an interesting monument to a man named F.H. Clark.

The monument stated that it had been erected back in 1926 by the Clark Colony Club. A brief internet turned up nothing about this particular F.H. Clark or the Clark Colony Club. It's a mystery that I might have to go to the library to find out more about.