Minnesota River Bottoms Land Ownership Maps

These maps are basically taken from a topographic map program, merged with information from the Hennepin County property tax database. I can't guarantee that the maps are perfect, especially for legal land description purposes. You'd need a surveyor to survey those lines on the actual land. Still, this information should be reasonable for depicting land ownership.

Also note that the maps are very large JPEG files. You've been warned.

OK, here are the maps:

• Bloomington Ferry to the MN&S swing bridge
  • Large version: bltnferry.jpg - 1938x1500 pixels, 1.2 MB
  • Small version: bltnferrysmall.jpg - 969x750 pixels, 410 KB
• MN&S swing bridge to 35W
  • ninemile.jpg - 1394x744 pixels, 620 KB
• 35W to Indian Mounds Elementary
  • bluffs.jpg - 1004x742 pixels, 492 KB
• Old Cedar Avenue area (east of Indian Mounds, and also south of Long Meadow Lake)
  • oldcedar.jpg - 982x740 pixels, 434 KB

Here's a basic summary of land ownership and management in the area:

• Starting at Bloomington Ferry, most of the land going eastward from Bloomington Ferry to the Izaak Walton League property is property of the Fish & Wildlife Service, except for one small sliver of land that's part of the 7501 Auto Club Road property. (And if you're thinking about calling or visiting the property owner and demanding rights for mountain bikers, DON'T DO IT! This will inevitably hurt mountain bike access!)
• The Izaak Walton League owns a section of land (about 1/4 mile of trail) about midway between Bloomington Ferry and the swing bridge. They have stated their opposition to a paved trail and generally don't have a problem with mountain bikers using the established trail. Please respect their property and stay on the established trail - don't cut new trails.
• The land going eastward from the east side of the Izaak Walton League property all the way to 35W is property of the City of Bloomington, with the exception of railroad right of way leading up to the swing bridge.
• The parking lot at the foot of Lyndale Avenue, plus some land surrounding the parking lot, is property of the Fish and Wildlife Service.
• The established mountain bike trail going eastward from Lyndale Avenue, up to the picnic tables, and continuing to Indian Mounds Elementary School, is on City of Bloomington property. The Fish and Wildlife Service manages this land under an agreement with the city. The exception to this ownership is a piece of land at the foot of Hopkins Road, which is Fish and Wildlife Service property.
• The established mountain bike trail ends at a small creek that goes up to Indian Mounds Elementary School. Please do not ride east of this creek (other than riding up the hill to Indian Mounds Elementary) because the trail leading eastward from this point is designated and managed as a hiking-only trail by the wildlife refuge. Riding on this trail is prohibited and causes problems for mountain bike access.