Herb and Esther's Hill

from The Maple Leaf, Winter/Spring 2007-
newsletter of the Friends of Maplewood State Park, written by John Nordstrom.

I never write Hallaway Hill without wondering what is the correct spelling? I have checked it out, but it is one of those things that I can never seem to remember. I know that doesn’t speak highly of my memory, but where was I? Oh yeah, no matter how you spell Hallaway Hill it is a great place to visit, especially in the Fall. You should see the line of people hiking up Hallaway Hill in the Fall during Leaf Days. I know from experience it is a view you will remember. It’s also not so bad in the Spring and the Summer. It becomes a destination for many hikers and horseback riders.

Have you ever tried it in the winter? Hiking it I mean, not on a snowmobile, although that’s a good way. I remember taking the Boy Scouts for winter camp on South Lida and staying in a railroad car. Some boys even spent the night in a snow igloo on one of the islands, but the highlight was to hike across South Lida and up Hallaway Hill with that plastic sled. That is an experience of a lifetime coming down that hill with the speed of an Indianapolis 500 race car. To survive the ride was great because those half way wrecks and rolling the rest of the way wasn’t fun. There are some big rocks! It was an activity the younger boys could have done all day except for the walk back up the hill. For us older folk I’m not sure if it was the walk up or the ride down that limited us to maybe two trips.

Let’s venture back to the early 1950’s when Hallaway Hill was a downhill ski area. I interviewed a few people so my information is only as accurate as their memories but it sounds like Hallaway Hill had four ski runs (South, Lodge, North and West) and a Bunny Hill. You accessed the ski hill off Highway 108 and drove to the Lodge (sometimes called the Chalet) where you could buy your lift ticket, food, and rent skis. [The Lodge building was moved to Franklin Lake and was used as a rental cabin at what used to be Leick’s Resort] The Lodge, North, and West runs would take you all the way down to South Lida. There were two rope tows that took you back up to the top. A rope tow on the South run didn’t get used very much due to lack of snow. The bottom part of the rope tows were poles anchored into the ice with a tire rim attached to the top. At the top the tow was a pick up truck mounted on blocks with the rope wrapped around the tire rim. They usually ran the tow rope in second gear but some remember shifting it to third for more speed. The rope tow was very hard on jackets and gloves. Nelson’s Shoe Store in Pelican did a good business sewing patches on gloves and jackets

Through the trees on one hill was a narrow path – one can still see the path today - with a 5 to 8 foot ski jump. A skier could get 25 to 50 feet of distance in the air and as some recalled broken legs or sudden tree stops. Hallaway Ski Hill had night skiing also. Paul Pfeifle has an unused ski pass that his family bought. For $50.00 they bought a year ski pass for 5. Unfortunately that was the 1970‑71 season and the Hill never opened that year or again.

Have any other thoughts, corrections, pictures, stories about skiing on Hallaway Hill? We’d love to hear them. Send information to Friends of Maplewood, PO Box 259, Pelican Rapids. MN 56572 or call John Nordstrom at 218‑334‑6567