{{short description|Highway in Minnesota, U.S.}} {{Use American English|date=March 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox road |state=MN |type=CR |county=Cook |route=12 |alternate_name=Gunflint Trail |maint=Cook County Highway Department |map={{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|frame-width=290|frame-height=290|type=line|raw={{Wikipedia:Map data/Wikipedia KML/County Road 12 (Cook County, Minnesota)}}}} |map_custom=yes |map_notes=CR 12, the Gunflint Trail, highlighted in red |length_mi=56.60 |length_ref=<ref name="MnDOT Cook"/> |established= |direction_a=South |terminus_a={{jct|state=MN|MN|61}} in Grand Marais |direction_b=North |terminus_b=Near Saganaga Lake |counties=Cook }} thumb|First sign for the Gunflint Trail in Grand Marais

'''County State-Aid Highway&nbsp;12''' ('''CSAH&nbsp;12'''), also known as the '''Gunflint Trail''', or '''County Road&nbsp;12''' (CR&nbsp;12), is a {{convert|57|mi|km|adj=on}} paved roadway and National Scenic Byway in Cook County, Minnesota, that begins in Grand Marais and ends at Saganaga Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), near the U.S. border with Ontario. It provides access to many of the entry points in the BWCAW.

==Route description== Originally a footpath for travelers from inland lakes to Lake Superior, the trail was eventually widened into a roadway, and designated as County Road 12 (CR 12). It now serves as a route to lodges, outfitters, hiking trails and the lakes and rivers of the BWCA. A small number of people, numbering in the hundreds, have full-time residences or businesses along the road, though thousands have cabins or other part-time residential properties.

The route begins at Highway 61 in Grand Marais. It travels generally northward until Northern Light Lake, where it turns northwestward, following the Brule River. It crosses the Brule and continues north-northwest along Swamper Creek, gradually arcing westward and running along the northern shore of Poplar Lake. The road continues west past several lakes including Birch, Mayhew, and Loon before reaching the access roads to Gunflint Lake. The route turns north near Round Lake and travels several miles to Sea Gull Lake, where it turns west again to its terminus at Saganaga Lake.

==History== The footpath was improved into a dirt road by Cook County in the 1890s to support the Paulson Mine.<ref name=MPR2009>{{cite news |last=Baran |first=Madeleine |title=Gunflint Trail, a 'road built for no reason' becomes National Scenic Byway |date=October 19, 2009 |work=MPR News |publisher=Minnesota Public Radio |url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2009/10/19/gunflint-trail-historic-designation |accessdate=September 20, 2018}}</ref> In the 1920s, local business owners paid for some improvements to the road; by 1957, it was paved from Grand Marais to Hungry Jack Lake.<ref name=1957map>{{cite map |title=1957 Official Road Map of Minnesota |publisher=Minnesota Department of Highways |cartography=The H.M. Gousha Company |url=http://cdm16022.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/mdt/id/1189/rec/37 |accessdate=September 20, 2018}}</ref> The last gravel section, south of Sea Gull Lake,<ref name=1977map>{{cite map |title=1977-78 Official Highway Map - Minnesota |publisher=Minnesota Department of Transportation |url=http://cdm16022.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/mdt/id/1249/rec/57 |accessdate=September 20, 2018}}</ref> was paved in 1979.<ref name=MPR2009/>

The road was designated a National Scenic Byway in 2009.<ref name=MPR2009/>

===Ham Lake Fire=== The Ham Lake Fire of spring 2007 severely impacted the Upper Gunflint Trail, burning over {{convert|40000|acre|km2}} in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Ontario's Quetico Provincial Park. The fire lasted several weeks and claimed almost 200 structures, although no one was seriously injured or killed. It was started accidentally by an unattended campfire at a campsite on Ham Lake. The fire drew national attention and a visit from Governor Tim Pawlenty, who inspected the damage first-hand.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1170203.html|title=Gunflint Trail fire likely to expand|work=startribune.com|access-date=2007-10-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720073129/http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1170203.html|archive-date=2008-07-20|url-status=dead}}</ref> Despite the significant damage to the forest, most outfitters and commercial businesses have reopened and access to the region's lakes has resumed.

===The Old Gunflint Trail Post Office===

Located along a portion of the "Old Gunflint Trail", the post office was originally located in the Voyagers Inn and run by its first postmaster George Stapleton. It was later purchased by Lawrence F. Wooding (Gus) in the early 1950s and came to be known as "Woody's Place".<ref>{{Citation|last=Larry Wooding|title=A Chronology Of The Old Gunflint Trail Post Office|date=2021-06-15|url=https://archive.org/details/a-chronology-of-the-old-gunflint-trail-post-office|access-date=2021-11-09}}</ref>

==Geography and tourism== Glaciers created the area's geographical features, forming basins running east to west with the region's bedrock, and when they retreated, lakes formed. The Ojibwa and French explorers found chert, which produces sparks, at Gunflint Lake and gave the trail its name. In contemporary times, both fire and wind put stress on the area.<ref name=Breining>{{cite news|author=Breining, Greg|title=A Glide Along Minnesota's Gunflint Trail|url=http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/travel/escapes/29gunflint.html|date=February 28, 2008|work=The New York Times|accessdate=2008-03-01}}</ref>

The Ojibwa built a village that is now Grand Marais, which became a trading post and a center for logging and commercial fishing. The town today is home to artists and artisans, and tourists who visit for the Gunflint Trail's canoe routes, hiking, fishing and {{convert|120|mi|km|0}} of trails for cross-country skiing.<ref name=Breining />

==Flora and Fauna== Grouse, white-tailed deer, black bear, moose, fox, snowshoe hares, wolves, lynx and pine marten inhabit the surrounding forest which comprises spruces, fir, pines, birch and aspen.<ref name=Breining /> Lake trout, walleye, northern pike, and bass inhabit the many lakes along the Gunflint Trail.

==Major intersections== <!-- only intersections with CSAHs are included here --> {{Jcttop|length_ref=<ref name="MnDOT Cook">{{cite web|url=http://www.dot.state.mn.us/stateaid/trafficsafety/2010LogPointListings-byCounty082211/16_Cook_County_Log_Point_Listing_2010.xls|title=Cook County Logpoint Listings|year=2010|publisher=Minnesota Department of Transportation|accessdate=March 6, 2013}}{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>|format=XLS}} {{MNint |location=Grand Marais |lspan=3 |mile=0.00 |road={{Jct|state=MN|MN|61|Tour|LSCT|city1=Duluth|location2=Thunder Bay}} |notes=Southern terminus }} {{MNint |mile=0.17 |road={{Jct|state=MN|CR|7|county1=Cook|name1=5th Street}} }} {{MNint |mile=0.95 |road={{Jct|state=MN|CR|15|county1=Cook|name1=5th Avenue}} }} {{MNint |location=West Cook |lspan=5 |mile=3.95 |road={{Jct|state=MN|CR|8|county1=Cook|name1=Devil Track Road|CR|55|county2=Cook|name2=Golf Course Road}} }} {{MNint |mile=27.63 |road={{Jct|state=MN|CSAH|22|county1=Cook|name1=Clearwater Road}} }} {{MNint |mile=29.34 |road={{Jct|state=MN|CSAH|21|county1=Cook|name1=Hungry Jack Road}} }} {{MNint |mile=44.23 |road={{Jct|state=MN|CSAH|20|county1=Cook|name1=South Gunflint Lake Road}} }} {{MNint |mile=55.93 |mile2=56.60 |road=Saganaga Lake |notes=Northern terminus; one-way access loop to lake }} {{Jctbtm}}

==References== {{Attached KML|display=title,inline}} {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{commons category-inline| Gunflint Trail}}

012 Category:Transportation in Cook County, Minnesota