Behind every great trail system is an even better story. We asked Eric Grundin to share the history of how the River Doc trails came to be, and how his close friendship with a neighbor changed the landscape of Rice Lake cycling forever.

Here is the history of River Doc, adapted from a conversation with local expert, Eric Grundin:

A Need for the Next Generation

Around 2019, the Rice Lake Youth Cycling team hit a major roadblock. For years, the team had trained on a private 40-acre trail system, but when those kids aged out of the program, the land was no longer available.

The team needed a place to ride close to town. Pipestone was too challenging for the younger riders, Hiawatha Park was too small, and Timberland Trails was just a bit too far of a drive.

A Neighbor’s Legacy

Eric put his head together with his neighbor on 24th Avenue, Dr. Rod Olson. Rod was an amazing, selfless individual who ran the emergency department at the local hospital for many years. He owned a large piece of property that spanned both sides of the street and was looking for a way to preserve it for the community.

Eric approached Rod with an idea: “Why don’t we build some mountain bike trails so the kids can ride here?” Rod agreed. Together with CORBA, they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) since the trail loop would cross both of their properties.

Building the Trails

To jumpstart fundraising, CORBA hired a professional trail builder to design an initial map. Backed by that plan, the team successfully raised funds from the local community, with a massive contribution coming from the Rice Lake Rotary Club.

They hired professional builder Ahmyn Masci to cut in the first 2.5-mile loop (Ahmyn is also heavily involved in the Pipestone trail system serving as Trail Liaison). From there, an army of volunteers took over, scratching and dragging out the rest. Today, the north side features 6 miles of amateur-built trails weaving beautifully through woods and agricultural fields.

The community pride shines through in the details:

• The high school shop class built three trail kiosks (for River Doc, Silver Creek, and Pipestone).
• The school’s metals class cut out the beautiful bike-gear sign at the trailhead.
• The bird featured on that sign is the Olson family crest, a nod to Dr. Rod Olson. The name “River Doc” itself honors Rod (“Doc”), who, in addition to being a medical doctor, spent years studying local watersheds to protect area rivers from agricultural runoff.

Expanding to 12 Miles of Winter Wonderland

The magic didn’t stop on the north side. Before passing away, Dr. Olson worked out an agreement with the Rice Lake School District to preserve his land on the south side of the street, establishing an incredible outdoor classroom program that every student in the district visits multiple times a year.

In the wintertime, a dedicated crew of volunteers use a snowmobile, a homemade roller, and a Snowdog to groom the River Doc trails, the school forest, and the nearby lake. When the snow is good, it opens up 10 to 12 miles of groomed tracks for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and fat biking.

“I’m always surprised in the winter how many cars I see in the parking lot in the middle of a weekday,” Eric says. “Seeing groups of people out there snowshoeing just makes my heart sing.”