It would depend on just where in Bemidji you start and where in Itasca you would end up, but the two routes are so close in distance as to make no real difference. If you choose to go the county road route, there is only one county road to be on, Clearwater County 2. Follow US Highway 2 west to Shevlin, turn left on County 2 and follow it into Itasca Park. Clearwater County 2 is on the east edge of Shevlin. There is a sign on the main highway showing that as the route to Itasca Park. If you get all the way into the town of Shevlin, you missed your turn.

For the return trip, leave Itasca Park on Clearwater County 2 (it's the north entrance road), cross Hwy 200 and keep going straight and when you get to the stop sign, turn right on US Hwy 2 toward Bemidji.

Oh yeah, at night be especially vigilant for deer in the road or in the ditches ready to cross the road.

Hi...

I was sure glad to hear from you as I have seen your other posts.

I guess my question still is are we ok, (safe and able to navigate) on those back roads as a group of people from the San Francisco Bay Area or would we be better off staying on the eastern entry to the park and hwy 71?

By the way how, did the torch thing affect your visit to the city when you were here. I can only hope you were on Van Ness when they changed the route.

Forever grateful,

The Mason Family from Northern California

Oh PS...

We are at the Hampton Inn

Thanks again

Um... Backroads? It's a paved highway. Safe? I drive it quite regularly and I feel safe, except for the animal problem and that is common to all our highways. Navigate? It's pretty much a straight shot up to US 2. No complicated intersections at all. Once you are on US2, you follow that to the intersection of US 71 South, exit there and take a left (toward Bemidji, there's a signal light) and follow that to the next signal, turn left into the right lane and the Hampton is about half a mile up.