Directions to the Bemidji Toxics Research Site

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Map of routes to research site from Bemidji.

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• Directions to Bemidji from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport: There are numerous routes to Bemidji from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Three routes are outlined below. It takes about 20 minutes longer to drive to Bemidji using the "best" route and 30-45 minutes longer to drive to Bemidji using the "scenic" route, compared to the fastest route described.
  
  
  • "Best" route to Bemidji from the airport: From the airport, take I494 west. Follow I494 as it turns north to I94. Take I94 west (northwest) about 9 miles to MN-101 at Rogers and take MN-101 north about 8 miles to Elk River. Take US-10 west (north) about 80 miles to Little Falls. Just north of Little Falls get on MN-371 and take it about 109 miles north (through Brainerd, Nisswa, and Walker) to Cass Lake.  Turn left (west) on US-2 and take it about 11 miles to Bemidji. It takes about 3.5 to 4.5 hours to drive from the airport to Bemidji using this route, depending on how fast you drive. I consider this the "best" route because it's a nice combination of good roads (the most 4-lane of any route), good scenery (the Leech Lake area near Walker is particularly scenic), good eating establishments (particularly in the Brainerd Lakes area midway to your destination), and a reasonable driving time.  You may encounter a greater amount of traffic on this route, however. 
  • "Scenic" route to Bemidji from the airport shown in light blue on map: From the airport, take I494 west. Follow I494 as it turns north to I94. Take I94 west (northwest) about 9 miles to MN-101 at Rogers and follow MN-101 north about 8 miles to Elk River. Take US-169 north about 75 miles to Garrison (around Mille Lacs Lake). Follow MN-18 west about 23 miles to Brainerd where it merges with MN-210. Take MN-210 through Brainerd several miles to MN-371.; take MN-371 north about 80 miles through the lake country of north central Minnesota past Leech Lake and to Cass Lake. Head west on US-2 about 11 miles to Bemidji. It takes about 4.0 to 5.0 hours to drive from the airport to Bemidji using this route, depending on how fast you drive. Another scenic route is to take US-169 all the way from Elk River to Grand Rapids and then take on US-2 west about 65 miles to Bemidji.
  • Fastest route to Bemidji from the airport shown in dark blue on map: From the airport, take I494 west. Follow I494 as it turns north to I94. Take I94 west (northwest) about 9 miles to MN-101 at Rogers and follow MN-101 north about 8 miles to Elk River. Follow US-10 west (north) about 100 miles to Motley and then go east on MN-210 about 0.5 miles to north MN-64. Take MN-64 about 70 miles to MN-200 west. MN-200 turns into US-71 in about 5 miles; take US-71 north about 14 miles into Bemidji. It takes about 3.5 to 4.5 hours to drive from the airport to Bemidji using this route, depending on how fast you drive. There are numerous other routes one could take but this one has the least traffic, is most direct, and thus is the fastest.

     

  Directions to the research site from Bemidji: It takes about 20 minutes to drive to the research site from most locations in Bemidji. There are two routes into the site (and some debate as to which route is the fastest). Route 2 is the shortest distance to the site but travels over more gravel roads and winds through the forest for a longer distance compared to Route 1, which has more paved roads and faster speed limits on US-2.

  
  

  • Route 1, shown in green on map: Take US-2 west out of Bemidji about 10 miles to the town of Solway. Drive north on C.R. 5 about 4 miles to the Fosston Forest (gravel) Road and turn right. Follow the Fosston Forest (Trail) Road east about one mile to the abandoned railroad tracks and turn right (south). Follow the railroad grade about 0.75 miles to the research site. A modification of this route would be to continue east about 0.25 miles past the railroad grade on the Fosston Forest Road to the dirt road leading south into the research site through the trees.

     

  • Route 2, shown in red on map: Take US-2 west out of Bemidji about 3 miles to C.R. 89. Go north on C.R. 89 about 5 miles to C.R. 22 and turn left. Follow C.R. 22 for about 2 miles to where it turns to the north -- DO NOT go north. Instead, go left about 100 yards to the Fosston Forest (Trail) Road where you turn right. Follow the Fosston Forest Road about 2 miles to a dirt road heading south (left) into the woods. The research site is about 1 mile south of the Fosston Forest Road. If you miss this access road and reach the abandoned railroad simply turn left (south) onto the railroad grade and drive about 0.75 miles to the research site.