Gunflint Mail Run Sled Dog Race 

About

The annual Gunflint Mail Run Sled Dog Race will be held at at Trail Center Lodge on the Gunflint Trail in Cook County, Saturday, January 11, 2025. 

The Gunflint Mail Run has adopted a new, simplified format that offers a 10-dog 65-mile-long race with a maximum of 15 teams in the field. The race is broken into two 32.5-mile legs separated by a mandatory rest at Trail Center Lodge. The race will start at 8 am and finish later that night.

The iconic Trail Center Lodge is located 25 miles up the historic Gunflint Trail from Grand Marais, Minnesota. Lodging and visitor information available at https://www.visitcookcounty.com/ 

The Gunflint Mail Run is in cooperation with and under a Special Use Permit from the U.S. Forest Service.

History: Dog sledding has been a part of the Gunflint Trail for years. Today it is generally thought of as racing or giving rides to tourists. The dogs are small fast animals that love to run at full speed. They follow trails through the woods and across the lakes. The very northeastern tip of Minnesota is Cook County, a land blessed with stunning beauty. We are also blessed with cold weather and snow here. It is in this land of remote beauty that dog sledding became a way of life. And it is this way of life that we celebrate with the Gunflint Mail Run Sled Dog Race.