Users of a favorite Minnesota footpath who let dogs run wild are wrecking the fun

Some people don't like hiking in the woods because they fear encountering a four-legged animal with sharp teeth.

But increasingly in some places, especially on one of northern Minnesota's favorite paths, it's not a wild animal that's scaring hikers. It's domestic animals — pet dogs — that are allowed to run the trail unleashed by their owners.

"Unleashed dogs have changed how my family hikes," said Amanda Gutierrez, who has a cabin in Schroeder, Minn., near the Superior Hiking Trail, where she frequently goes with her family.

Gutierrez said one of her daughters, age 9, has been chased twice by a dog running free, including an instance when the dog nipped her.

"My daughter is afraid to go in front of me," Gutierrez said. "She's pretty nervous now; it scared her pretty bad."

Todd Mitchell of Canby, Minn., who thru-hiked the trail last year, had a chunk of his snow pants torn off by an unleashed dog that ran up to him while he hiked the Brewer Park Loop, part of the Superior trail in West Duluth. "He came around me and sunk his teeth right in," Mitchell said. "The owner said, 'I think it's your hiking poles that scared him.' I told him if the dog doesn't like hiking poles, keep him on a leash."

Dogs on the Superior Hiking Trail are required to be leashed, but it's a topic that divides — quickly and often vehemently — members of a Facebook page for trail users.

The complaints aren't just online. Disobeying the leash policy is a common gripe to the Superior Hiking Trail Association, which manages the 310-mile trail.

The group has stepped up its efforts to let trail users know the policy, with a prominent declaration on its website, signs at all the trailheads, and plans for a video explaining the rules.

Besides leashing a dog as the rule, "it's just common courtesy," said Denny Caneff, the association's executive director. "Your dog may be 'friendly,' but I don't find a dog jumping on me to be necessarily friendly."

And it's not just about other trail users.

"The policy is for the dog's own safety as well," Caneff added. "If they bolt off and encounter wildlife, it could be a bad thing for the dog."

"A dog off the leash has the potential to interact with wildlife," McBride said. "That interaction is many times benign, but sometimes it's not. If an animal's young are disturbed by a dog, it can be problematic for the young, but for the dog too, as that animal is going to protect its young."

McBride said most state park visitors follow the rules and "understand that while they love their dog, not everyone else loves their dog as much as they do. But some people don't honor that, and we would like them to."

Caneff said the problem on his trail seems to be worse toward the southern end, part of which goes through Duluth. "Further north, it's more woods, and people don't want their dog running around as much — maybe there's a wolf lurking around the bend, or a cliff where the dog could fall. They might be more conscientious for that reason."

Another reason for the leash policy is that many landowners have given the association permission to run the trail through their property, and, Caneff said, the association has assured those landowners that dogs will not be allowed to run loose. (In most cases, trail users are unaware when they might be on private property.)

Kandice Szewcik of Hermantown is one landowner who has noticed that the policy is not always followed. Besides causing problems when she walks her own dogs on the trail, she's concerned about loose dogs encountering her canines on her own property.

On occasions when landowners have revoked permission, for a variety of reasons, expensive and inconvenient rerouting of the trail is often required.

But there's an easy solution to the problem, Caneff said: "If everyone plays by the rules, all will be well."

While there is no real means for enforcement of the policy on the Superior Hiking Trail, there is in the state parks. Violators can be fined up to $125 plus court costs, although McBride said park rangers rarely if ever issue tickets.

"The general philosophy of enforcement is that first we educate, then we cite," McBride said. "We want people to comply with rules voluntarily. If they don't, especially after being educated, they could get cited."