Waabizheshikana (the Marten Trail)
St. Louis River corridor between Fond du Lac and West Duluth, MN
About Waabizheshikana (the Marten Trail)
Waabizheshikana, the Marten Trail, is the multi-use trail being built along the St. Louis River corridor through Duluth's western neighborhoods, connecting the estuary communities from West Duluth out toward Fond du Lac.
The name is the important part. It honors the Marten Clan, recognized for establishing a foothold on the estuary and for its leadership in dealings with fur traders and the United States government during the treaty era. The trail's route follows a corridor where the Ojibwe made use of long-established portages and trails, so the alignment is not new ground so much as ground being used again.
For the far west neighborhoods this trail matters practically as well as historically: it is the first serious attempt to link Fond du Lac, Gary-New Duluth, Morgan Park, Smithville, and Spirit Valley to each other by something other than Highway 23 and Grand Avenue. Sections have been built in phases and more are planned.
Good to know: St. Louis River estuary corridor, interpretive naming, connections to historic Ojibwe portages and trails, birding, walking and biking.
Access: River corridor access points between Fond du Lac and West Duluth
Neighborhoods it serves
The oldest community in Duluth, 14 miles from downtown, at the bottom of the lake.
Gary-New DuluthTwo company-era river towns that people now treat as one, and the service center for the far west end.
Morgan ParkThe concrete company town US Steel built, and the neighborhood that outlived the mill.
SmithvilleRiver-corridor housing below, Bardon Peak above, and a radical labor college in its past.
Spirit ValleyWest Duluth's main street, with a ski hill at the end of it.
Where these facts come from
- Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, community historical ecology (trail naming and historic Ojibwe portages and trails) accessed 2026-08-13
Last reviewed 2026-08-13 by Guide editorial.