Sugarloaf Cove Celebration

A celebration of Sugarloaf Cove’s new trailhead, parking area and interpretive signs will be held on Friday, June 24 from 1 to 2 p.m. at Sugarloaf Cove Nature Center, 9096 Highway 61, Schroeder, MN. Following a short ceremony, refreshments will be served and a guided walk will be offered.

Sugarloaf Cove is in the midst of tremendous growth. Public visits to the site have increased dramatically in each of the last several years. Naturalist programming and longer coursework, including Minnesota Master Naturalist training and the Lost Forest Program, along with North Shore Forest Collaborative partnerships, are helping Sugarloaf grow and deliver on their mission of North Shore landscape preservation, restoration and stewardship education.

In response to this vitality, and in response to visitor survey comments, Sugarloaf undertook a capital campaign in 2015 to fund infrastructure improvements including:

• Parking lot design and reconfiguration;

• New signage in the parking lot, at the building and along the trail ;

• Trail enhancements including new steps in key places along the trail;

• Visitor Center improvements including adding gutters, fixing windows, re-staining the exterior and repairing outdoor furniture.

In addition to capital campaign donors, funding from the Elmer L. and Eleanor J. Andersen Foundation, the Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation, and the Minnesota DNR Lake Superior Coastal Program, made these improvements possible. The event will be a time to celebrate the success of the campaign, to thank donors, and to unveil the new signs and other improvements.