The Casey Jones State Trail has the distinction of being the first trail authorized to be a state trail in Minnesota. It currently exists in three, unconnected segments with the plan to eventually connect them. The longest segment runs for 13 miles starting in Pipestone, Minn, but only 5 miles are paved. Another 6-mile, paved, loop segment runs from Lake Shetek State Park to Currie, Minn. The final segment is a natural-surface trail running for 2.5 miles starting in Lake Wilson, Minn.
Project 1) Securing a Trailhead for the Future Trail
This land was acquired to provide a trailhead for the future development of the Casey Jones State Trail. Working in close partnership with the Friends of the Casey Jones Trail, P&TC purchased the land in late August 2015. Seven years would pass before the MnDNR would assume ownership in 2022.
Advocate for the continued development of the trail.
Friends Since
Groundwork for the group laid in 1993, but officially becomes a nonprofit in 2002
Trail’s Namesake
Casey Jones was railroad engineer who died while heroically trying to stop an out-of-control train in 1900. He was immortalized in a ballad, later made popular by Johnny Cash. The railroad segment that the trail runs on was commonly known as the Casey Jones unit.
