Lost 40 SNA

About

Lost 40 owes its old-growth pine forest to a surveying error that occurred during the Public Land Survey in 1882. As the story goes, the pines were missed by loggers because surveyors mistakenly mapped the area as Coddington Lake (the lake is actually located half of a mile to the southeast). The site was re-surveyed and the error corrected in 1960. Shortly after, it was incorporated into Big Fork State Forest and its old trees have since endured.

A 2009 study found the oldest individual trees within the SNA to be red pines 230-240 years old. The stand on adjoining land within Chippewa National Forest reportedly originated as early as 1745, and includes the "champion red pine" of Minnesota's Native Big Tree Registry, measured at 115" in circumference and 120' high

An interpretive trail passes through the site. This site is in an Audubon Important Bird Area and Watchable Wildlife Viewing Area. This site is within the Chippewa National Forest.

Dates

Lost 40 SNA trail is open year-round.

Rates

There are no fees or permits to visit the Lost Forty.