New Big Ravine Headwaters Trails Now Open!

The elevated platform provides views of the pond, wetlands, and surrounding landscape. Click image to enlarge.

Thanks to a handful of hard-working volunteers, Bayfield Area Trails' newest trail, the Big Ravine Headwaters Trail, is now open for your enjoyment. The trail is a 0.5-mile loop path that starts about 200 feet west of the Meyers-Olson Road parking lot at the upper end of the Ravine Trail. Added features include informational signage and a raised pond viewing platform complete with bench for leisurely wildlife and sunset watching. 

Click images to enlarge.

The trailhead kiosk welcomes trail users.

The Big Ravine Headwaters pond.

Signs guide trail users to the pond overlook and other sights.

A spur trail from the north side of the loop leads hikers through meadows and orchards to the Bayfield Winery & Blue Ox Cidery where one can relax with refreshments during business hours and savor a beautiful rural landscape panorama.  

FOR SAFETY: The portion of the trail leading to the winery ​crosses private farmland. Please stay on the marked trail and keep all pets leashed as there may be livestock present and electrified fencing on the trail perimeter. 

Big Ravine Headwaters Map. Click image to enlarge.

​Along the route, walkers will experience an interesting variety of habitats and vistas. The trail begins in darkened forest with carpets of wintergreen on the forest floor and soon leads to sunny, wet meadows enjoyed by sandhill cranes. Further along the trail is a tranquil view of a pond once worked by beavers but now the home of river otters, turtles, kingfishers, and waterfowl.  There are more distant views of the surrounding hills that hug this trail including orchard-covered slopes to the north and the looming Fire Tower Hill rising to the west.

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While this wetland basin provides a variety of critical ecological services from flood control to wildlife habitat, it is an opportune link to advance recreational opportunities near Bayfield.  One can now enjoy a hike starting across from the Bayfield Library on Washington Avenue traveling creek-side in the ravine and ending atop the watershed at the Bayfield Winery & Blue Ox Cidery on Betzold Road close to Highway J, a distance of more than 2 miles. 

In October 2022, the Landmark Conservancy and the Town of Bayfield worked with the community to purchase this property. Funding was made possible through the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund, the Duluth Area Community Fund, a North American Wetland Conservation Act grant, funding from the Town of Bayfield, and several private donations.  The 10 acres is now owned and managed by the Town of Bayfield.

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Come visit the Headwaters Trail, stretch your legs, and appreciate the beauty that this area gives us to enjoy!

​THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS!!

• Phil Bratsch, master mower of Blue Ox Cidery
• Mark Filonowich
• Paul Filonowich
• Mary Finn
• John Ipsen (Crew Leader)
• Paul Kaese
• Rolland Kiel
• Kate Kitchell
• Mike Kinnee
• Ted & Tracy May
• ​Rich Metcalfe
• Mark Peterson
• Rich & Janel Ryan
• Kris Wegerson (Crew Leader)