The Kekekabic Trail, commonly referred to as "The Kek," is a hiking trail that runs about 39 miles from Snowbank Road near

Ely, Minnesota Ely ( ) is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,268 at the 2020 census. Located on the Vermilion iron range, Ely once had several iron ore mines. It is an entry point for campers and canoers into the Bo ...

to the western terminus on the

Gunflint Trail County State-Aid Highway 12 (CSAH 12), also known as the Gunflint Trail, or County Road 12 (CR 12), is a paved roadway and National Scenic Byway in Cook County, Minnesota, that begins in Grand Marais and ends at Saganaga La ...

in northwestern

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

. It connects with the

Border Route Trail The Border Route Trail is a long hiking trail that crosses the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in the far northeast corner of Minnesota (Arrowhead) and follows the international border between Minnesota and Ontario, Canada. It conn ...

on its eastern terminus. The Kekekabic Trail runs through the center of the

Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW or BWCA) is a wilderness area within the Superior National Forest in the northeastern part of the US state of Minnesota under the administration of the U.S. Forest Service. A mixture of forests ...

and begins opposite the Snowbank Trailhead on the Ely side. Most of the trail lies in Lake County. The Kekekabic is known for being very remote, primitive and rugged in nature, and for solitude. The trail's landscape and hiking experience can be divided into thirds. The western third lies mostly in a forest canopy of

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the ''Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China ...

jack pine Jack pine (''Pinus banksiana'') is an eastern North American pine. Its native range in Canada is east of the Rocky Mountains from the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories to Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, and the north-central and ...

, some large

white pine ''Pinus'', the pines, is a genus of approximately 111 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera: subgenus ''Pinus'' (hard pines), and subgenus ''Strobus'' (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been further ...

, and boreal conifers. There was a major blowdown in 2016 from the west trailhead to near Thomas Pond. The middle third passes through the remnants of the 1999 blowdown and the forest is composed of young trees, some large white pines that survived the storm, a lot of broken off snags, and a large amount of downfalls. The eastern third, east of Agamok Bridge, passes through parts of the 1999 blowdown that also burned in the Ham Lake and Cavity Lake wildfires. Here, the trail passes through areas where a majority of the

tree canopy In biology, the canopy is the aboveground portion of a plant cropping or crop, formed by the collection of individual plant crowns. In forest ecology, canopy also refers to the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns an ...

was killed by the fires. Aspen, birch, and Jack Pines are growing back quickly and there are also several open grassy sections near Seahorse Lake. The Kekekabic is an official part of the

North Country National Scenic Trail The North Country National Scenic Trail, generally known as the North Country Trail or simply the NCT, is a footpath stretching over from Middlebury in central Vermont to Lake Sakakawea State Park in central North Dakota in the United States; ...

and is maintained by the Kekekabic Trail Club Chapter of the North Country Trail Association. The Chapter publishes a regularly updated guidebook for the trail that features detailed descriptions and hiking maps. The Chapter is also responsible for developing 20+ miles of the North Country Scenic Trail in between the Kekekabic Trail and Ely.

External links

The Kekekabic Trail Club Chapter of the NCTA
Protected areas of Cook County, Minnesota Hiking trails in Minnesota Protected areas of Lake County, Minnesota Protected areas of St. Louis County, Minnesota {{Minnesota hiking trails