Giant Pines Trail (Big Crow)

This is a paddle-accessed out-and-back from Crow River to an old-growth white pine stand. The mapped footpath is about 1.4 km each way, or 1.8 miles round trip from the landing, with roughly 75 m of net rise; allow about an hour on foot, separate from paddling. It is sometimes mapped as Great Pines Trail and is different from the road-accessed Big Pines Trail along Highway 60. The mileage is an estimate from a mapped line, not a published visitor distance.

Past canoe-trip accounts place the landing on Crow River’s south bank near a log dam, close to Big Crow Lake. They describe a sign and flagging tape there, but I couldn’t confirm current directions or whether those markers remain. This is a remote backcountry side walk, not a roadside hike; confirm the landing and your paddle route before heading in. Dogs are allowed under the park’s general rules: keep them on a leash no longer than 2 m and under control.

The payoff is the stand of large white pines inland from the river. The route’s mapped endpoint sits higher than the landing, but accounts don’t describe the tread, footing or grade in enough detail to promise what the walk feels like underfoot. Some paddlers continued toward Big Crow lookout, but its connection to this route is unclear, so the lookout isn’t included in the mapped line or distance.