Our View: Pine Valley Regional Park sounds good

Although there are some of us who'd love to keep Pine Valley our own little secret, it's too much of a good thing not to willingly share with the world.

Which is why we applaud efforts by Tim Krohn, the city of Cloquet and others, to seek regional designation for Pine Valley with the Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission.

Such a designation would only make the park better, with access to more funding and hopefully better signage so folks from out of town can find their way to Cloquet's hidden gem a little more easily.

After all, is there any other place within a 60-mile radius of Cloquet where a person can ski jump, cross country ski, ride on specialized mountain bike trails, run, walk, hike, hold birthday and grad parties and simply enjoy 243 acres of woods right in the middle of town?

The fact that Pine Valley is one of only four places left in the state with functioning ski jumps truly sets it - and Cloquet - apart from the rest of the Northland. Annual ski jumping events draw competitors from other clubs in Minnesota and across a four-state region and the jumps have also bred their fair share of regional and national champions. The groomed Nordic ski trails are lit at night and free to ski, drawing skiers from Duluth, Carlton County and beyond.

According to Krohn, who holds at least three trail race events there per year, the park also has some geographical features that make it unique, including scattered red and white pine trees that made it through the 1918 fires and an "exceedingly rare Qli formation," which is an ice-contact deposit having an esker, a kame, and a meltwater fan deposit." (It may not mean much to the average reader, but it makes for a great base for both the ski jumps and mountain bike trails, so thumbs up to that long ago glacier.)

We don't have to tell Pine Knot readers what a special place it is.

But we'd like to think that sharing our woodland treasure with the rest of the state will help us preserve it for future generations to continue to enjoy.

We welcome your input to the Pine Knot News.

Send your thoughts to:

Email: [email protected]

Mail: Pine Knot News Editor, 122 Avenue C,

Cloquet, MN 55720