The Cut Foot Sioux Trail is a loop trail in the

Chippewa National Forest Chippewa National Forest is a National Forest located in north central Minnesota, United States, in the counties of Itasca, Cass and Beltrami. Forest headquarters are located in Cass Lake, Minnesota. There are local ranger district offices i ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, United States. It follows gravel and sand forestry roads that are now used for hiking, biking, cross-country skiing and horse back riding. The trail passes by several lakes. The trail starts at the Cut Foot Sioux Visitor Information Center on

Minnesota State Highway 46 Minnesota State Highway 46 (MN 46) is a highway in north-central Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with U.S. Highway 2 near Deer River (northwest of Grand Rapids) and continues northwest to its northern terminus at its intersection ...

in west-central

Itasca County Itasca County (pronounced eye-ta-ska) is located in the State of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 45,014. Its county seat is Grand Rapids. The county is named after Lake Itasca, which is in turn a shortened version of the L ...

. The Center, on the

Leech Lake Indian Reservation The Leech Lake Reservation (''Gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag'' in the Ojibwe language) is an Indian reservation located in the north-central Minnesota counties of Cass, Itasca, Beltrami, and Hubbard. The reservation forms the land base for the federally ...

, offers interpretive programs and a fishing pier. From the Center the trail runs west through wooded country past several lakes, including Cut Foot Sioux Lake, then turns north and slopes gradually up to Farley Tower, an old lookout. Turning east, the trail runs along the

Northern Divide The Laurentian Divide also called the Northern Divide and locally the ''height of land'', is a continental divide in central North America that separates the Hudson Bay watershed to the north from the Gulf of Mexico watershed to the south and ...

, then drops down to the Bowstring river before heading south back to the Visitor center. The trail connects with Simpson Creek Trail, a trail system through large

red pine ''Pinus resinosa'', known as red pine (also Norway pine in Minnesota), is a pine native to North America. Description Red pine is a coniferous evergreen tree characterized by tall, straight growth. It usually ranges from in height and in trun ...

s on a peninsula that extends into

Lake Winnibigoshish Lake Winnibigoshish is a body of water in north central Minnesota in the Chippewa National Forest. Its name comes from the Ojibwe language ''Wiinibiigoonzhish'', a diminutive and pejorative form of ''Wiinibiig'', meaning "filthy water" (i.e., "br ...

, and passes through the Cut Foot Experimental Forest, used for studying pine forest management. Walkers may see

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

and

loons Loons (North American English) or divers (British English, British / Irish English) are a group of aquatic birds found in much of North America and northern Eurasia. All living species of loons are members of the genus ''Gavia'', family (biolog ...

on the lakes. The Cut Foot Sioux Ranger Station, near Lake Winnibigoshish, is the oldest remaining ranger station building in the Forest Service's Eastern Region."Cut Foot Sioux Ranger Station, MN"
National Scenic Byways Program. Retrieved 29 November 2008 A log cabin, it was built in 1904 and abandoned in 1918, but has been restored and is in good condition as of 2008.
US Forest Service Map

References

{{Reflist Hiking trails in Minnesota Protected areas of Itasca County, Minnesota National Recreation Trails in Minnesota Chippewa National Forest