White Pine Trail

The White Pine Trail is a 2.2-mile-long mowed grass trail in Jay Cooke State Park near Carlton, Minnesota. The White Pine Trail takes hikers through stands of white pines, mixed deciduous and coniferous forests, and prairie habitat. This trail has gently rolling hills; from the trailhead to the highest point on the trail there is about one hundred feet of elevation gain. Since this trail is located in a state park, a fee must be paid to enter the park. A day use or annual permit can be purchased at the Park Office. Dogs are allowed on this trail but must be on a leash six feet long or shorter.

The White Pine Trail can be accessed by taking a short trail on the north side of the swinging bridge/River Inn parking lot and walking across Minnesota Highway 210. After crossing the highway look for the CCC and White Pines Trail sign to the right.  The CCC trail soon branches off to the left, continuing straight here. After hiking through the forest for about a mile, the trail enters a prairie for a short while and returns to the forest. There are two intersections on this stretch of the trail; go left at both of them. At the 1.5 mile mark the trail enters the prairie habitat again. A spillway for Forbay Lake is visible here. Just past the spillway the trail enters the woods again on a wide and straight path. After about a half mile on this straight section the White Pines Trail ends where it meets the CCC trail. To make a loop out of this hike take a left onto the CCC trail. From here it is about a third of a mile back to the parking area. The CCC trail does follow a campground road near the dump station for a short distance.  

A map of the park and its hiking trails can be found here.