November 19, 2009: Northern Bruce Vento/Northern BNSF Regional Trail Hike (Maplewood)

Join the hiking group for a hike along the northern portion of the Bruce Vento/BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad) Regional Trail in northern St. Paul and Maplewood. The trail is a "rails-to-trails" trail developed by Ramsey County. The trail follows a former Burlington Northern rail line. U. S. Congressman Bruce Vento (1940-2000) was a 12-term liberal Democrat from St. Paul who championed environmental and homeless causes, including efforts to ban oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, efforts to preserve tropical rain forests, and efforts to make it easier for the Hmong who fought with the U.S. in the Vietnam War to become U.S. citizens. Vento died of malignant mesothelioma, a cancer apparently caused by inhaling asbestos fibers as a young worker at a St. Paul East Side manufacturing plant. The BNSF dates back to 1849, initially as the Aurora Branch Railroad. The Burlington Northern Railroad (BN) was created in 1970 by the merger of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company (CB&Q), the Northern Pacific Railway Company (NP), the Great Northern Railway Company (GN), and the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway Company (SP&S). In 1980, the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company (Frisco) was merged into the BN and the merger in the late 1990’s of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway is reflected in the choice of the current name of the railroad. The BNSF is an aggregation of a total of 330 prior railroads.

If driving: Take I-35 East and exit at Larpenteur Avenue. Go East (turn Right) on Larpenteur Avenue about 1/3 of a mile to Arcade Street/Highway 61. Proceed North (turn Left) on Arcade Street/Highway 61about 1/8th of a mile to Frost Avenue. Proceed East (turn Right) on Frost Avenue a few hundred feet to the entrance to the Phalen Park parking lot adjoining Round Lake. The group will meet near the picnic shelter.

If coming by public transit: Take Metro Transit route(s): 61. The closest bus service point appears to be the corner of Arcade and Larpenteur. Applicable Metro Transit Map / Bus Schedule information

Interested hikers will reassemble after the hike at a nearby restaurant (Champps Restaurant, northwest corner of I-35E and Larpenteur Ave, St. Paul) for dessert or dinner.

Map to Frost Avenue & Arcade Street, Maplewood, Minnesota

Map of Phalen Lake Park showing Round Lake parking lot.

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This webpage was last updated on October 27, 2009.