Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area on Minnesota’s Cuyuna Range occupies land transformed by decades of open-pit iron ore mining near Crosby, Ironton, and Cuyuna. After mining companies abandoned the area more than 20 years ago, former pits and waste-rock piles became a rehabilitation landscape, with vegetation returning and mine pits filling with clear water. Portsmouth Mine Pit Lake is regarded as Minnesota’s deepest lake, and the Croft Mine Historical Park connects recreation to the area’s mining heritage. The area is now best known for its trails, including the paved Cuyuna Lakes State Trail and an expanding mountain bike network that helped make it a notable outdoor destination.