The Minnesota Trail Lizards are proposing a new off-road vehicle (ORV) trail on a 40-acre parcel owned by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in Morrison County. At the Tuesday, April 2 Morrison County Board of Commissioners planning session, DNR Area 3A Supervisor Tim Edgeton and club members Lois and Jordin Campbell made a pitch to the Board to sponsor a grant-in-aid (GIA) proposal that would help develop the new trail system.
Lois Campbell started the presentation, giving more information about what the Trail Lizards and ORVs are. According to Campbell, the club started about nine years ago and has been active and growing since its inception. The Trail Lizards are a four-wheel drive enthusiast group based in central Minnesota, but members are located throughout all areas of the state. Of the approximately 2,500 members, around 500 are active participants and 20 to 40 members are constant volunteers, with those numbers expected to grow as time goes on.
The Minnesota Trail Lizards are a club affiliate with the Minnesota Four Wheel Drive Association (MN4WDA), a non-profit organization founded in 1987 dedicated to creating new trail opportunities for ORVs and educating the public about them, Campbell said. The MN4WDA asked the Trail Lizards to work on getting the Morrison County parcel developed as an ORV trail.
Campbell continued the presentation by defining what an ORV is. A subdivision of off-highway vehicles (OHVs), ORVs are “motorized recreational vehicles capable of cross-country travel on natural terrain.” Other types of OHVs include all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), both class I and class II, the second being less than 2,000 pounds and narrower than 65 inches, and off-highway motorcycles (OHMs).
Going into the history of the proposed ORV GIA site, Edgeton said the first phase started in 2009, when the state of Minnesota began designating areas of state forests that had potential for motorized recreation opportunities. The second phase took place between 2019 and 2020, when the state worked to identify any missed or viable OHV opportunities from the first phase. Among the identified opportunities in this phase was a parcel in Ripley Township of Morrison County, approved with the name of “School Trust 40.”
The Trail Lizards identified a need for more ORV trail options in central Minnesota. Currently, there are only sparse trail networks in the region, with none in Morrison County despite there being over 10,000 ORVs registered in Minnesota and approximately 1,080 registered ORVs within and surrounding Morrison County.
The proposed trail would be located near Highways 45 and 47. Campbell said it would provide a new recreational opportunity for the many ORV owners in Morrison County and surrounding areas.
The Campbells detailed plans for a 1.1 mile trail that would be designed specifically for light-duty ORVs traveling at slow speeds, from one to five miles per hour. Signage and fencing would clearly mark the trail boundaries to avoid conflicts with neighboring private land. They also emphasized that the design aims to discourage use by all-terrain vehicles and dirt bikes in order to minimize safety risks.
While supportive of increased outdoor recreation access, some commissioners expressed concerns about enforcement if non-ORV vehicles use the trail or if injuries occur on the remote state-owned land. The Trail Lizards assured the Board that the club would help monitor trail usage. They also plan to work closely with the DNR on closures during hunting season.
To develop the new trail system, the club is seeking a roughly $30,000 GIA from the state of Minnesota. This would help cover initial costs of parking area construction, fencing installation and equipment rentals. Most labor for building the sustainable trail would come through volunteer hours from club members.
Lois Campbell thanked the Board for its consideration, stressing the importance of these trails and other forms of outdoor recreation for families.
“(There are) a lot of families that go out together. As you can see, (I have) my daughter,” Lois Campbell said, referring to Jordin Campbell. “I have a son as well, and the oldest boy has two young ones, my grandchildren. It’s a very big breath of social time, spending time together, keeping them off of video games and stuff like that and keeping the family activity going.”
In order to apply for the GIA, the Trail Lizards need a sponsor to act as a fiscal agent for the trail grant, certify to the DNR that the trail is ready to use and work with the DNR on permits. Although sponsorship does not require any funds from Morrison County, the work required to be a sponsor proved to be too much for Ripley Township to handle. The club reached out to the township to see if it would be willing to be a sponsor prior to coming to the Board of Commissioners.
The Board will make a decision on sponsorship at an upcoming meeting after reviewing a requested letter of support from Ripley Township. With backing from the county, the Trail Lizards aim to start work on the new ORV trail as soon as possible, providing a new outdoor recreation option for enthusiasts across the region.
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