How a surveying error preserved ancient pines in Minnesota’s Lost 40

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An unusual forest in northern Minnesota offers a rare glimpse of towering 200-year-old pines in a tract once mysteriously lost from the map.

It’s called the Lost 40, and some of its trees took root before the U.S. became a nation. It’s a place where visitors can walk through time, to an era before lumberjacks left their mark on the landscape.

Terry Kahl is captivated by this unique forest and its history. During an event at the Minnesota State Fair, he asked Curious Minnesota, the Strib’s reader-powered reporting project: “What’s the story of Minnesota’s Lost 40?”

The majestic red and white pine trees of the Lost 40 are some of the largest recorded in Minnesota. They owe their survival to something unexpected: human error.

On a snowy November day in 1882, Josiah King and his three-man crew were working on one of the first land surveys of northern Minnesota.

But they plotted out Coddington Lake farther northwest than it really was, effectively hiding acres of trees from loggers in the years to come. On a map, the area falsely appeared to be underwater.

Today, the Lost 40 is found about an hour’s drive northeast of Bemidji. It represents a dwindling example of an old-growth forest, which in the late 1880s made up a third of the state’s forests and now makes up less than 5%.

The Lost 40 likely got its name from the fact that 40 acres is the smallest subdivision in the land survey. It includes 32 acres of pine that are specifically designated as “old-growth,” according to the Department of Natural Resources, but the forest is actually much larger and is co-managed by Minnesota and the federal government.

The DNR manages 114 acres as a Scientific and Natural Area, one of more than 160 in the state. Another 169 acres are managed by the U.S. Forest Service, part of the Chippewa National Forest.

“This is the kind of a place with a lot of lore and a lot of mystery to it,” said AmberBeth VanNingen, the DNR’s northeast regional scientific and natural areas specialist.

VanNingen sees a lot of tree-huggers when she walks the 1.4 miles of smooth trails here. Visitors can’t resist wrapping their arms around the massive tree trunks, unable to reach the other side.

The pines have miraculously escaped both human and natural destruction.

Experts say some of the trees in the Lost 40 could be traced back to the 1740s, and a 307-year-old red pine was once recorded there until it fell. The oldest tree still standing is a record holder, a 250-year-old red pine that’s 120 feet tall and 115 inches around.

Because it’s free to visit, the agencies that manage the Lost 40 don’t track official visitor numbers. But Michelle Heiker, a recreation program manager with the U.S. Forest Service, estimated that more than 5,000 bird-watchers, hikers and others trek to the Lost 40 each year.

While the area doesn’t draw crowds like many state parks, it’s still among the most popular Scientific and Natural Areas in Minnesota and one of the most visited spots in the Chippewa National Forest, the smaller of the state’s two national forests.

“Just the name, it makes it seem like a secret spot,” Heiker said. “There’s something special, almost magical about seeing trees that have lived for centuries and are still standing tall. ... There’s not a lot of places in Minnesota you can go and see large trees like that.”

New educational signs were installed in 2020, adding Ojibwe terms for plants and flowers. The Leech Lake Indian Reservation, one of seven Ojibwe tribes in Minnesota, shares miles of land with the Chippewa National Forest.

Summer attracts the most visitors, but in the monochrome landscape of winter, the giant trees stand out even more, VanNingen said, providing a quiet refuge for snowshoers or hikers on the ungroomed trails.

“Not a lot of our old-growth [forests] in general — but especially our old pine — is left in this state,” she said. “That’s what again makes it special. ... It’s also just really important to us as people to remember and have these places that represent a different time period.”

The forest is exceptional and unique — and those aren’t just superlatives. The U.S. Forest Service designates it a “biologically unique area,” which prioritizes conservation of the land.

At the DNR, Scientific and Natural Areas have the highest level of protection of state public land, selected as exceptional because of the rare species there.

The soil is perfect for growing those mighty red and white pines.

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