Kekekabic Trail

The Kekekabic Trail, commonly referred to as 'The Kek', is a hiking trail that runs about 41 miles from Snowbank Road near Ely, Minnesota to the western terminus of the Gunflint Trail in northwestern Cook County. The Gunflint then proceeds southeastward, with its terminus at Grand Marais, Minnesota on Lake Superior. The Kekekabic Trail runs through the center of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and begins opposite the Snowbank Trailhead on the Ely side. Most of the trail lies in Lake County. It is known for being very remote, primitive and rugged in nature, and for solitude.

The trail can be divided into thirds. The western third lies mostly in a forest canopy of aspen, jack pine, some large white pine, and boreal conifers. There is a large recent clearcut that the trail passes through west of Snowbank Lake. There was a major blowdown in 2016 from the west trailhead to near Thomas Pond. The middle third passes through the remnants of the 1999 blowdown and the forest is composed of brush, small trees, some large white pines that survived the storm, a lot of broken off snags, and a large amount of downfalls. The eastern third passes through parts of the blowdown that have been burned by the Ham Lake and Cavity Lake wildfires. Here, the trail passes through areas where a majority of the tree canopy was killed by the fires. Aspen and Jack Pines are growing back quickly.

The Kek is an official part of the North Country National Scenic Trail and is maintained by the Kekekabic Trail Club Chapter of the North Country Trail Association.