[1] Named after the nearby Little Earth community, the shared-use pathway provides transportation and recreation opportunities, and is a frequent location of activism on social justice issues in Minneapolis.

The name of the trail is borrowed from the Little Earth community in Minneapolis, a 9.4 acre, 212-unit housing complex at approximately East 24th Street and Cedar Avenue that is home to nearly 1,000 residents.

[2] Construction of Hiawatha Avenue in 1999 included a 12-foot (3.7 m) wide, shared-use path along the west side of the highway,[3] which was later named and signed as Little Earth Trail.

As part the broader Midtown Minneapolis trail system, it serves as an important conduit for people to move through neighborhoods and reach community and regional destinations.

[7] People in the Phillips community refer to the area as "The Wall of Forgotten Natives," which literally represents a large, concrete sound barrier along the Hiawatha Avenue transit corridor and the issues facing former camp residents.