September 3, 2015: Luce Line Trail Hike (Plymouth)

Join the group for a hike along the Luce Line Trail, a "rails to trails" trail developed and maintained by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, in Plymouth. The trail stretches 63 miles from the western metro suburb of Plymouth to the small town of Cosmos in west-central Minnesota. The Luce Line Trail was originally built as the Electric Short Line Railway from downtown Minneapolis to west central Minnesota by Colonel William Luce. The original intent of the line was to capture the farm to market traffic originating in central Minnesota and to provide transportation for people to downtown Minneapolis via electrically propelled trains. The Luce Line was bought by Minnesota Western RailRoad in 1924. In 1927, it reached its western most point at Gluek, Minnesota. Passenger service on the railroad ended in 1947. In 1956, the Minnesota Western RailRoad was purchased by the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway. In 1960, the Minneapolis & St. Louis RailRoad was purchased by the Chicago Northwestern RailRoad. The track was officially abandoned by the railroad in 1972 and was taken over by the State for a recreational trail in 1976. On the first mile of the trail is the trestle bridge crossing Gleason Lake.

Directions: The parking lot for the trail is located in Plymouth, off of 10th Ave. No. and Vicksburg Lane. Take I-494 to the Carlson Pkwy. Exit and go west on Carlson Pkwy. briefly, then turn right on Gleason Lake Rd. Continue on Gleason for a little more than a mile, and turn right on Vicksburg Lane. Continue on Vicksburg about ¾ mile. The entrance to the Luce Line is on the left, at 10th Ave. At the Cimarron Ponds housing development, turn as if to go into the development, then veer to the left to the parking lot.

Luce Line Trail Organization

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This webpage was last updated on August 30, 2015.