Our Park Continues to Grow!
A $3.8 million, 164-acre acquisition successfully closed on June 5, 2014, bringing the park total to 721 acres. The purchase was made possible with $2.2 million in grant funding and additional match funding from Wright County and the City of Monticello.
The next acquisition of 80 acres is slated for 2015. The estimated cost is $2.3 million with $1.4 million coming from grant funding.
With the closing of the latest acquisition, the county and city will now own the beach at Bertram Lake and the 12-acre parcel where the YMCA intends to build its new Day Camp Manitou. The YMCA will operate Camp Manitou on the county and city property through the end of the 2014 season and will transition over to their new camp for the 2015 season. The county and city will look into the options for opening the beach to the public after day camp hours. There are many issues that need to be resolved prior to opening the beach; therefore, it is assumed the public opening of the beach will commence in 2015. Furthermore, the city has secured grant funding to begin Phase I of the Athletic Complex sometime in 2015.
Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists (MORC) will continue building the single track mountain bike trails in the park this summer. Currently MORC volunteers are working to reroute and rebuild a 10-mile mountain bike loop open to non-motorized use; however, it is expected that the trails will grow to 14 miles. MORC volunteers work on the trails in the park on Wednesday evenings through the summer. Bertram Chain of Lakes Regional Park is the one place in Wright County that offers mountain biking. The trails are signed and bikers are encouraged to test out the trails. The topography is fun to ride and there are a lot of great switches, so there can be challenging parts!
Once Bertram reaches its planned 1,050 land acres (1,200 acres including water bodies), it will become the largest regional park in Wright County!
Blazing the Trails
The St. Cloud Times posted an article highlighting the redesigned single-track mountain bike trails built and maintained by MORC (Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists). MORC volunteers work at Bertram Chain of Lakes Regional Park on Wednesday evenings through the summer. Check out the article here:
Visit Bertram Chain of Lakes Regional Park today and enjoy the outdoors and all the natural recreation the land has to offer!
Park Hits the Halfway Mark!
A closing for the next land acquisition at the Bertram Chain of Lakes Regional Park took place on December 17, 2013. The purchase included approximately 140 land and water acres lying along the south and west side of the planned park – including a large portion of Bertram Lake. After months of work on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) pertaining to the development of the YMCA’s Camp Manitou at the park, the purchase is ready to move forward! The Wright County Board of Commissioners and the Monticello City Council, at their respective meetings, both approved the Fourth Addendum to the MOU and its exhibits on November 12, 2013, paving the way for the closing.
This acquisition will put the Bertram Chain of Lakes Regional Park at almost 640 acres, or over half of the total planned park area of 1,200 acres!
Find out more about Bertram Park by clicking here!
Boy Scouts Turn Out For Clean Up Day!
The boy scouts gathered a fantastic group of people who worked very hard at Bertram Clean Up Day! They said it was about 100 kids but I think it was a lot more with all the troupe leaders and parents and other volunteers.
They cleared the entire section of Buckthorn that was laid out and kept right on going. They picked all the rocks in a designated section, cleared out old broken down docks and other structures. I saw
some picking up trash and others cleaning the dead wood out of the dam between Bertram and Long. They worked right through the rain and I thought they did a great job! I think they appreciated the Friends of Bertram Lakes being there to help out too.
Big shout out to Eagle Scout project leader, Mitch Walker, who had a huge job arranging and directing all the volunteers. He did a great job! Thanks to everyone for another successful Bertram Clean Up Day!
Clean Up and Buckthorn Busting
It’s Spring Clean Up Time!
Where: Bertram Chain of Lakes Regional Park
When: Saturday, May 5, 2012 1 – 4 pm
The Friends of Bertram Lakes is partnering with the Boy Scouts this year for a Spring Clean Up and Work Day at Bertram Lakes Regional Park. We have lots of great projects we could use some help with so we are inviting the public for a fun day of helping a great cause.
Come enjoy the park and pick up trash or help us bust some buckthorn. Trash bags will be provided. Please bring along gloves. For buckthorn removal we will have a few pruning loppers but bring yours along if you have one. We will meet on the south side of the park off 90th Street. Questions, call Colleen at 651-983-3481.
Another Terrific Open House!
Martyn’s Slide Show
Thanks to everyone who attended the Friends of Bertram Lakes Open House on Saturday. Martyn Dibben did a really nice slide show presentation and attendees learned which areas of the park we own and which are open for public use.
There was a nice discussion of the committees available for those who want to participate in helping the Friends of Bertram Lakes and many people signed up to help. We are especially happy that we will be able to see so many of you at the Park Clean Up Day this Spring.
We appreciate all of your involvement and can’t wait until the next time! 
Open House
The Friends of the Bertram Chain of Lakes invite you to learn more about what’s happening at the 500 acre regional park and how you can become involved in supporting the park.
Join the Friends for cookies, coffee and more information at their Open House on Saturday, February 11th from 10 AM to Noon at the Monticello Community Center.
