Photos Courtesy of Explore Minnesota & Ryan Taylor
The season for biking, hiking, and paddling is upon us, and Minnesota offers few better opportunities for all three than the Root River State Trail and the Root River.
Surrounded by bluffs and rolling hills, the Root River winds through Minnesota’s Driftless Area in the southeast corner of the state. This region was bypassed by the continental glaciers that flattened most of the rest of the Midwest. We know this spared portion of land as the “Bluffland” area. Rather than lakes—which account for a hefty portion of Minnesota’s reputation—rivers and bluffs and cave systems and forested valleys make this southeastern gem what it is.
The Root River carves through an expansive valley, which is used as farmland and dotted with charming historic towns. Bikers, rollerbladers, and hikers call the trail that runs through it a favorite.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF EXPLORE MINNESOTA & RYAN TAYLOR
If you don’t know the Root River State Trail, summer is an excellent time to take note and book a trip. It’s not just a scenic ride but a full adventure, with towns where riders can stop for shopping, activities, and pie, plus a bounty of some of Minnesota’s most beautiful landscapes to admire—all while staying active. To ride the full trail, you might want to spread your jaunt across two days or more. There are campsites, inns, Vrbos, and other lodging options to take advantage of along the way.
The paved trail itself makes use of an abandoned railroad. The Department of Natural Resources converted it to the 42-mile rail trail by 1986. Ten years after that, the adjoining Harmony-Preston Trail opened, too. The 17-mile Harmony-Preston “spur” connects to the western portion of the Root River Trail, veering south from the town of Preston and, combined with the Root River Trail, makes for a total of over 60 miles of gorgeous trail!
By the way, here’s some help for imagining the trail: It winds west from Houston, Minnesota, heading gradually uphill and stopping by the towns of Rushford, Peterson, Whalan, and Lanesboro before landing at Fountain, the “sinkhole capital of the country.” (A reported estimate of 10,000 sinkholes will earn you that moniker.) You can ride it the other way, too, from west to east. And the Harmony-Preston Trail splits off west of Lanesboro.
This region is full of diverse birds, wildlife, and habitat. “For the first few miles west of Houston, it doesn’t really feel like a typical rail trail,” says YouTuber Paul Suchecki in a video about the Root River State Trail posted earlier this year. “For one thing, the trail kind of twists and turns through the forest.” He notes plenty of “quiet and solitude” as riders glide along, a ways off from any roads.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF EXPLORE MINNESOTA & RYAN TAYLOR
Picnic areas, shelters, and camping opportunities pop up along the way, and “the best part,” Suchecki advises his audience, is between Peterson and Lanesboro. Peterson is a cute stop nestled among bluffs and equipped with an RV campground, and Lanesboro was voted one of “America’s Prettiest Towns” by Forbes in 2010.
Live theater and old-fashioned movie theaters are perfect for rainy days, as are caves, bowling alleys, shops, and some of the state’s most delightful pies, found in nearly every town along the trail. Those who are in it for the birds will want to take a peek inside Houston’s International Owl Center, dedicated to owl conservation, before they take off west along the trail.
Now that the weather’s getting nice, this is your chance. Check out what may be Minnesota’s greatest region for biking. (And if you’re a water person? Consider tubing along the river, too!) Learn more at rootrivertrail.org.
