Trail News

A Walk Through Time

March 2024

New Property Acquired for Trail Near Otter Lake

Otter Lk Preserve
Otter Lk Preserve map
The Alliance has purchased a new piece of property within our eastern corridor. This beautiful undeveloped 76 acre property is now called the Otter Lake Preserve. It contains high-relief hummocky glacial topography, including a kettle lake, a marsh, a stream, and several small ice-walled lake plains. It is a hilly property that will connect 365th Street to County H at the southeast end of Otter Lake. It will take several years to get trail established, and once it is done, it will be a beautiful piece of trail to hike.


Thank you to Jared Wildenradt (8 time IAT hiker) for bringing this property to the attention of the Alliance and the Chippewa Moraine Chapter.

Please wait until the trail is finished before hiking on this property.

Volunteers - Chippewa Moraine Chapter Trails 2024

Trail volunteers rest after new trail construction

In 2024, we will take over maintenance of the trail that lies in the Chippewa Moraine National Scientific Reserve. This includes the entire Chippewa Moraine segment and the west 1.5 miles of the Harwood segment. This will add 9.5 miles of trail work for the chapter.

We have added trail adopters to this section of the trail who will monitor the trail and do minor trail cleanup.

In April, we will have a major trail maintenance day to clean up winter damage to the Harwood Lakes and the Chippewa Moraine segments. We will need a full crew to accomplish this.

If you are not on our trail crew (with a Volunteer Agreement-see below), consider joining our trail crew this year. There is something special about building and maintaining the trail. You will never look at the trail with the same eyes again after participating in a work project and learning what it takes to keep our trails in top condition.