Cuyuna, MN

Cuyuna grew out of the Cuyuna Iron Range, a mining town laid out near the Kennedy mine in 1908. By 1912, the village had a newspaper, a baseball team, a school, and more than 700 residents; mining later ended in 1984. The old pits and waste-rock landscape now sits beside clear mine lakes, Rabbit Lake, and the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area. Cuyuna's story is visible in the shift from ore-processing town to a city organized around the reclaimed range.

Today's Cuyuna map is built around the 5,000-acre recreation area and the Cuyuna Lakes State Trail, with mountain biking, hiking, fishing, paddling, and snowmobile routes extending through the region. The city holds council meetings at the Cuyuna Fire Department, and nearby Crosby-Ironton supplies K-12 and medical services. The Mississippi River, Great River Road, Highway 6, and Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport link the former mining towns to a wider north-central Minnesota circuit. Cuyuna lives with its industrial past in the ground and its current activity on the trails and lakes.