In 1993, Minnesota turned 5,000 acres of abandoned iron mines and 15 flooded pits up to 525 feet deep into Cuyuna Country; today the former mining landscape has 50+ miles of bike trails and 25 miles of shoreline

Thirty-three years after local authorities took control of thousands of acres of damaged land, a former mining centre in central Minnesota has completed one of the Midwest’s most striking ecological transformations. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR) established the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area in 1993, taking over 5,000 acres of abandoned iron mines and 15 flooded open pits.

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