A section of the Willard Munger State Trail will reopen to the public Wednesday following an eight-month restoration project designed to improve fish habitat, strengthen stream resilience and expand recreational opportunities along Knowlton Creek.
The trail segment between Pulaski Street and Riverwest Drive has been closed since November while crews restored a 200-foot section of Knowlton Creek where it crosses beneath the trail. The work was designed to improve stream stability, increase the creek's ability to handle both extreme high- and low-water conditions, and restore natural ecological functions.
The project also improves fish and wildlife movement beneath the trail while creating new opportunities for recreation. Knowlton Creek supports a naturally reproducing population of brook trout, and several aspects of the restoration were designed specifically to improve habitat for the species.
Before construction, stream flow and public access were restricted by an undersized box culvert and a large earthen embankment that supported the former railroad corridor. Crews removed approximately 13 vertical feet of fill — about the height of a one-story house — from the trail embankment and replaced the aging culvert with a 100-foot steel truss bridge.
The new bridge restores natural stream conditions while improving public access to the creek for birdwatching, photography, fishing and other outdoor recreation. Trail users will also have improved views of Spirit Mountain and the St. Louis River from the restored crossing.
The project is one of dozens being completed through the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' Get Out MORE (Modernize Outdoor Recreation Experiences) initiative, launched in 2023 to modernize outdoor recreation facilities and improve public access across the state.
Projects are planned, underway or completed in 63 of Minnesota's 87 counties. The initiative includes improving accessibility at existing recreation facilities, expanding adaptive outdoor equipment, upgrading roads that provide access to public lands, and enhancing signage, maps and wayfinding throughout DNR-managed properties.
Additional investments include modernization of campground infrastructure at two state parks, upgrades to more than 100 of Minnesota's approximately 1,700 state-managed public water access sites, improvements at state fish hatcheries to increase production capacity and strengthen biosecurity, more than 80 shore fishing access projects completed in partnership with local governments, and replacement of culverts and modification or removal of dams to improve stream ecology and climate resilience.
The Knowlton Creek project was funded in part through the Outdoor Heritage Fund, as appropriated by the Minnesota Legislature and recommended by the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council to restore, protect and enhance Minnesota's wetlands, prairies, forests and fish and wildlife habitat.
Additional funding was provided through a mitigation fund associated with the project area.
More information about the Get Out MORE initiative is available through the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
