In his captivating 4/16/25 article for Racket, ‘What’s The Deal with Paul Bunyan?’, writer Ian Ringgenberg catches our ever-eager interest for all things Paul Bunyan, when he pens, “Paul Bunyan casts a giant shadow across the American imagination, and it’s doubly long in Minnesota. If you grew up here, you probably have a story to tell about Paul—learning Bunyan stories in school, summers visiting Paul Bunyan Land outside Brainerd, a particular statue you’d see on the way to a cabin. Everyone knows a little something: tall, flannel shirt, big axe, pet ox.” Ringgenberg notes, “Paul Bunyan makes me nostalgic for a time when you could hop in a car for a day and be genuinely surprised by the unique eccentricities of the place where you ended up…”
So true! The folks who live, work and play in the fourteen jurisdictions along the Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway’s (PBSB) 54 miles know a lot of things about Paul Bunyan, and if they don’t know or would like to add a little to what they do know, there’s always a chance to make stuff up in the form of tall tales.
Most people know that Pine River is home to Paul Bunyan’s baby boots, but the town’s particular spot on the Pine River itself spawned a clever tall tale about giant ducks, starting off with Paul Bunyan lamenting, “…. every time we floated those logs down this very river, we had to put up with the GIANT Ducks.” Read the whole story on the Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway’s informational panel at Pine River’s Lower Dam SE Park near the Lion’s Pavilion.
Paul Bunyan himself occasionally shows up at the Pine River Library and the Pequot Lakes Library as a celebrity reader for the preschool kids’ programs. In this neck of the woods, even the youngest kids know something about Paul Bunyan.
Parks in Pequot Lakes highlight the Paul Bunyan connection too. Paul Bunyan’s big footprints showed up a few years ago on the northeast side of Trailside Park. On the southeast side near the Chamber of Commerce building is a Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway information panel. Across Patriot Avenue at Bobber Park stands Babe, the Blue Ox, Paul Bunyan’s big chair and his big bobber. Curious as to how that big bobber got there? Find out at https://paulbunyanscenicbyway.org/about/blog/the-legend-of-paul-bunyans-bobber . Just outside of town, Paul M. Thiede Fire Tower Park hosts a tall tale story panel about Paul Bunyan’s role in creating fire towers.
Crosslake’s Chamber of Commerce site has its own set of Paul Bunyan footprints. It sits just across the street from the PBSBA’s popular Linda Ulland Memorial Garden located at the USACE Crosslake Campground. Always a kid’s favorite, Babe the Blue Ox statue with saddlebags, stands in front of the playground near the Garden entrance. The city’s Town Square is home to another Babe statue; the cleverly created fish-Babe. And Paul Bunyan makes an appearance every year at the winter Soupfest event.
In Jenkins, Paul Bunyan greets passersby from his spot at the A-Pine rest stop near Highway 371/County Road 16 intersection. At the nearby Gateway Gazebo, three informational panels share a historical timeline of Jenkins and a truth-and-lore history of the Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway area.
Right now you might be getting a hankerin’ to do exactly what Ringgenberg described, tour around the Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway while you let yourself get a little nostalgic and “be genuinely surprised by the unique eccentricities of the place where you end up”.
Find out more at www.paulbunyanscenicbyway.org.
