Nearest Town: McGregor and Jacobson

The Hedbom Forest Road, named for an early settler, cuts through a variety of habitats providing opportunities to see many species of birds and animals. The 12-mile long Forest Road begins at County Road 36 and ends at the St. Louis County line west of Floodwood. You can turn left onto St. Louis County Road 837 and continue into Floodwood for additional services.

Traveling from the west, the first section of road passes an area of shrubby poplar and alder brush edging damp sedge meadows. A short distance east, the Red Pine plantation along both sides of the road is a great place to look for Red and White-winged Crossbills, Red-breasted Nuthatch and Black-capped Chickadee. The Cornish Flowage Cooperative Waterfowl Project, managed jointly by the Minnesota DNR and the Aitkin County Land Department, about one mile into the Forest Road is a large expanse of open water edged with cattails and sedges. Beaver and Muskrat make their homes in the flowage. Wood Duck, Blue and Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Ring-necked Duck, Canada Goose and Black Tern are found here. Watch for Bald Eagle and Osprey soaring overhead and nesting Trumpeter Swan.

A snowmobile trail that transects the county through Savanna Portage State Park, crosses the Hedbom Forest Road about three miles from the trailhead. It continues north through Hay Lake Campground and on to points north. Hike the trail northward over the rolling hardwood hills filled with Ovenbird, Red-eyed Vireo, Yellow-throated Vireo, Least Flycatcher, Hermit Thrush and Black-throated Green Warbler. Known as the Cornish Hardwood Area, a 1998 breeding bird study completed by the Natural Resources Research Institute of University of Minnesota-Duluth identified this woodland as a breeding area for Black-throated Blue Warbler. Found in old growth forests and undisturbed areas, in Minnesota these warblers typically nest along the ridgeline above Lake Superior.

From this point on, the road passes mixed hardwoods, aspen and conifers. These last several miles are the most interesting, as they traverse Tamarack and spruce bogs interspersed with Northern White Cedar. In this habitat, birds to look for include Great Gray Owl, Black-backed Woodpecker, Gray Jay, Boreal Chickadee, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Connecticut Warbler and, in winter, Northern Hawk Owl, Red and White-winged Crossbills and Pine and Evening Grosbeaks. Most of the woodpeckers that inhabit Aitkin County can be found along the Hedbom Forest Road. Northern Flicker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy, Hairy, Pileated, Black-backed and even American Three-toed Woodpecker have been found here.