With a major goal within reach, area trail enthusiasts are looking to the future — even if it’s several years down the road.

The recently released Minnesota House bonding bill paves the way for the Shooting Star Trail to finally reach a decades-old goal: Austin.

The prospect of $2.5 million to extend the trail from Rose Creek to Austin has many eying Albert Lea, Lyle, Blooming Prairie, Owatonna and Iowa as future destinations.

“People would come to Austin; they’d have the opportunity to ride three different state trails,” said Joel Wagar, a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources area parks and trails supervisor.

The DNR’s future plans have the Shooting Star, Blazing Star and Prairie Wildflower trails meeting in Austin. Some like Vision 2020 Bike/Walk Trail Committee Chairman Steve Kime are thinking big picture, and that’s a picture with Austin as a hub with trails heading in each direction on the compass to neighboring communities.

“That network of trails would be just a fantastic plus,” Kime said.

The future is bright, but it’s murky.

 ‘A big renewal’

But there are more reasons to be optimistic. Along with the trails entering Austin, Kime is excited about work on trails inside Austin. The city has a five-year plan that includes work on trail segments near the bandshell, the Austin Wastewater Treatment Facility and along Turtle Creek, according to Kime.

“The city has been very aggressive,” he said.

Austin has more than 14 miles of graded city trails, and Kime praised the city as committed and supportive.

After working on area trails for several years, Wagar’s seen increased local enthusiasm for trails, the Cedar River and recreation recently.

“There’s just been a big renewal of interest in an outdoor recreation,” Wagar said.

“Austin’s got a lot of activity going on,” he added.

If Austin is eventually at the crossroads of future expansion, it would make the community attractive for trail enthusiasts, Wagar said.

Vision 2020 is already looking to capitalize. Vision 2020’s Gateway to Austin Committee is entering the first phase of researching a proposed Austin visitors center. If built, Gateway to Austin Committee Chairman John Gray said the visitors center would connect to the trail system and offer amenities and parking for cyclists.

Prairie Visions has promoted the Shooting Star Trail and Scenic Byway since the 1990s. President Becky Hartwig recently praised Vision 2020 for giving the trails a boost at the right time.

She and longtime volunteer Gerald Meier previously described the Shooting Star reaching Austin as the key goal they’ve been working toward.

Rydjor Bike Shop manager Chad Burma described it as game-changer that would make the trail more accessible to residents, as would future expansion.

“It’ll really change the use of that trail; I think it will increase quite a bit,” Burma said.

Burma looks at the Twin Cities, where bicycle businesses are thriving, as proof that future development of local trails will be a boost.

“The bicycle business is booming up there, and it’s in large part to the trail system and the accessibility they have up there,” Burma said.

 Big plans

Plans for regional expansion aren’t new. For decades, groups like the DNR and the Southeast Association of Regional Trails (SMART) have planned extensive regional trails.

“That’s our future goal is to have connections through major metropolitan areas in the southeast,” said DNR District Recreation Supervisor Paul Hansen, who added the DNR strives to have trails that can be used both for biking and walking/running.

The Prairie Wildflower Trail from Austin to Blooming Prairie, Owatonna and Faribault was authorized more than 20 years ago, but there’s little progress.

“It’s not seen a lot of activity in the last 25-plus years,” Wagar said.

Trail backers’ next logical step may be a plan to extend the Shooting Star Trail to Lyle.

The DNR owns several miles of land between Austin and Lyle as part of the Lyle-Austin Wildlife Management Area, which is currently managed by the DNR’s Division of Fish and Wildlife. The DNR Division of Parks and Trails is discussing the possibility of adding the trail with the wildlife division.

Since the DNR owns the land, that could save on land acquisition, which has proven difficult and time consuming in the past.

But funding is still an issue. With local leaders focused on the Shooting Star reaching Austin, there’s been little movement to garner money and attention for the Lyle extension.

“Obviously funding is the key on all of these things,” Kime said.

Along with Lyle, the Mower County board has committed to connecting the Shooting Star with Iowa’s Wapsi-Great Western Trail near Taopi. The Shooting Star will be extended four miles to the Iowa border. At least last year, Iowa leaders were eager to extend their trail one mile to the Minnesota border, but Mower officials want to reach Austin first.

 To Owatonna, Hayward and Albert Lea

The routes west and north are more complicated.

At one point, a railroad line from Austin to Owatonna was going to be vacated, which attracted the attention of trail enthusiasts several years ago, according to Wagar. But plans changed, and the railroad route is still in use. Any trails toward Owatonna would now have to use a different route.

Between Owatonna and Faribault, trail leaders are actively working on a portion of the Prairie Wildflower Trail.

“They’ve taken a great interest in that piece,” Wagar said.

The House bonding bill includes $500,000 to extend the Blazing Star Trail from Myre-Big Island State Park to Hayward. The trail presently begins at Frank Hall Park in Albert Lea and goes to the northeast side of Myre-Big Island State Park.

“Getting to Hayward would be a big step,” Kime said.

That trail will eventually connect to Austin, but the route could take several years. Wagar said an “extremely best case scenario” could see the trail reach Austin within five to six years, but officials must work with all privately owned land from Hayward to Austin. The reality could be farther out.

“It takes everybody along the line to agree that that’s the route,” he said.

Someday, the Shooting Star Trail could extend from LeRoy east to Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park and the Root River Trails. Like several other trails, there’s little movement and work on that portion, according to Wagar.