Major access points are on Hwy. The terrain consists of rolling hills, many lakes and streams, and forests of white and red pine, aspen, birch maple and oak. The southern trailhead is at Baxter, just west of Brainerd. The northern trailhead is just south of Bemidji. This trail and the Heartland State Trail are together for 7 miles near Akeley.
Wildlife is abundant.
It starts just west of Houston in the Vinegar Ridge Rec. Here the Root River flows northwest and Hwy. 16 goes southwest, but the trail continues 10 miles west to Fountain. The trail was developed on an abandoned railroad grade and contains 48 railroad bridges with lengths of up to 500 feet. Wildlife along this forested trail includes wild turkeys, deer, hawks and turkey vultures.