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Hitting the trail at Shady Oaks

DNR staff tour ATV trails near Russell

Staff photo by Deb Gau Gary Thooft answered questions about the Shady Oaks Native Prairie Adventure Trails on a tour Thursday. Representatives of the Minnesota DNR and Lyon County commissioners met to ride the trail network and learn more about it.

RUSSELL — The ATV trails winding through the woods just outside of Russell are built more for scenery than for speed. But that’s actually part of the fun, Gary Thooft said.

“It’s more about getting lost,” Thooft said of Shady Oaks Native Prairie Adventure Trails, the trail network he created.

Last week, Thooft led a line of side-by-sides and ATVs over creek crossings and up and down hills. Along for the ride were guests including Lyon County commissioners and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources staff.

“We are looking to get a feel for the land, and a feel for the trails,” said Morgan Wendt, an off-highway vehicle acquisition and development specialist with the DNR’s Parks and Trails division. Wendt said touring Shady Oaks would give DNR staff a chance to learn more about the maintenance and condition of the trails.

“It’s a good opportunity for those who haven’t been here before,” she said.

After touring Shady Oaks, the DNR representatives also headed to the Appleton Area Recreational Park. Appleton and Shady Oaks are some of the only OHV trails available in southwest Minnesota, Thooft said.

Thooft built the trail network at Shady Oaks over a period of years before it officially opened to the public in 2018. He’s still the one who maintains the trails, as well. On part of the tour, Thooft pointed out areas where he had had to remove fallen trees, or improve wet segments of trail.

“I don’t let water stand on the trails,” he said.

But this summer’s rainy weather led to some temporary trail closures.

Overall, Shady Oaks has about six miles’ worth of trail on 100 acres of land, Thooft said.

Thooft has also added in some additional features for visitors since 2018. During Thursday’s tour, he occasionally paused to point out animal and Bigfoot sculptures hidden in the brush. The sculptures were part of a scavenger hunt activity that riders at Shady Oaks could take part in, he said. Some newer additions to Shady Oaks included camping hookups, Thooft said.

Thooft said it’s hard to get an exact count of guests who come to Shady Oaks, because not everyone signs the guestbook. However, guests have marked a map on the wall of the main trail shelter and maintenance building with pins to show where they traveled rom.

“People come from all around the country,” Thooft said.

A video of the Shady Oaks trails filmed last year by Pete Hager of Mankato also helped spread the word, Thooft said. He said the video received around 50,000 views online.

Wendt said the DNR tour gave staff a chance to add some new trails to their GPS data of Shady Oaks, which will be used to update the DNR’s OHV trail atlas for 2025-27.

“All in all, it went pretty well,” she said.

Starting at $4.38/week.

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