Rolling hills at Baker

In the fall of 2000, Hennepin Parks began a major overhaul of the asphalt trail system at Baker Park Reserve. The old trails had become quite cracked and split, making activities like rollerskiing and inline skating a bit hazardous. In late May 2001, the trail system was reopened to the public.

The new trail system follows much of the same smart planning that was implemented for Hyland's repaving in 1999. The trail system was tweaked in a number of locations to provide a safer, more enjoyable path, but overall much of the original trail system layout has been retained.

Some of the bigger changes are (see red numbers on map below):

• West side entrance from the parking lot

  1. West side entrance: The old trail coming down from the west side parking lot merged at the bottom of a hill. In addition, sightlines didn't provide a good view as to possible trail traffic problems. The new layout offers a long, gradual approach to the intersection, with excellent sightlines.
  

• Northwest side entrance

  2. Northwest corner entrance: Much like the west side entrance, the old northwest corner trail (connection to the Baker Park campgrounds and swimming area) was also a downhill merger into the main path. The old entrance provided almost no view of oncoming trail traffic, and was even steeper than the old west side entrance. Hennepin Parks has greatly improved this segment by rerouting the old main trail up higher on the slope, effectively cutting the entrance hill to half its previous length. There is now a reasonably good sightline to the left as you enter, but with the heavy bush and woods on the right side, you'll need to still use good caution as you enter the main trail.
  

• 3. Northeast corner entrance: It appears the old Northeast corner entrance has been removed. The old asphalt has been removed and no new material has been laid down (at least as of late May 2001.)
  

• One of the utility road crossings

  4. Road crossings: All of the road crossings have been cleanly repaved, with paving extended down the intersecting roads to help minimize road debris on the trail.
  

• 5. Big hill taming: The big hill on the east side of the Baker trail system has been slightly modified. The new trail rounds the curve out more, and at the same time provides a slightly more gentle slope. The old hill was quite negotiable, but the new hill puts a few more neckhairs back in place.