Gulch Lakes Trailhead for the North Country National Scenic Trail

Laporte, Minnesota

About

The Itasca Moraine Chapter covers 77 miles of the North Country National Scenic Trail in Minnesota between Minnesota Highway 84 in the Chippewa National Forest and a point in Itasca State Park. The Chapter took its name from the Itasca Moraine, the dominant landform over which the Trail traverses. Itasca is an end moraine, formed when the Wadena Lobe stopped moving southward and began its retreat at the end of the Wisconsinan glaciation, which took place 75,000 to 10,000 years before the present. Chapter members live throughout Minnesota. Chapter meetings are held in Akeley, Bemidji, Hackensack, Laporte, Park Rapids, Walker and other towns in Northern Minnesota. The Chapter has been engaged in extending the NCT from the west boundary of the Chippewa National Forest through the Paul Bunyan State Forest and Hubbard County tax forfeit forestlands toward Itasca State Park. In 2004 a spur trail was developed to a backcountry campsite on Waboose Lake, and additional campsites were added in 2010, including Sprinkle Trail Campground, Kidney Lake Campground, and Carter Lake Campground, which connect the NCT to the DNR’s Gulch Lakes Campground.

Amenities

Available Site Types

• Backcountry Campsites
• Tent Sites
• Primitive Tent Sites

Local Attractions

• Itasca State Park
• Chippewa National Forest
• Paul Bunyan State Forest
• Hubbard County tax forfeit forestlands
• Gulch Lakes Campground
• Waboose Lake
• Nelson Lake
• Kidney Lake
• Carter Lake
• Spider Lake Forest