Explore the best rated trails in Cottage Grove, MN. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Gandy Dancer Trail - Southern Section and Interlink Trail. With more than 94 trails covering 867 miles you’re bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Although short, the River Bend Trail provides access to a recreational gem, the River Bend Nature Center, a 750-acre park with woodlands, prairie, rivers, and ponds. Along the way, the paved trail...
Closure Notice: Beginning Oct.28, 2020 through Fall 2021, segments of this trail north and south of Upper Afton Road will be closed to allow for a regional sewer rehabilitation project. The Point...
The Elm Creek Park Reserve is an outdoor lovers’ dream. At 4,900 acres, it’s the largest park in Hennepin County. The park provides enough amenities to keep people coming all year round. Cyclists...
This north-south path runs alongside McKnight Road on the border of St. Paul and Maplewood. Starting on Larpenteur Avenue, this blacktop path travels past residential neighborhoods and shopping...
The Batchelder Trail is a local walking and biking path in Faribault, Minnesota, a city south of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro. The asphalt trail starts on Park Avenue and winds behind a residential...
Minnetonka boasts over 90 miles of multi-purpose trails and counting. Located just 8 miles of Minneapolis, this city has a growing network of bike and pedestrian infrastructure knitting it together....
The 5.5-mile Midtown Greenway follows a former railroad corridor through the heart of south Minneapolis, heading due west from the Mississippi River to the neighborhood of West Calhoun in the scenic...
Shingle Creek Regional Trail branches out of the Rush Creek Regional Trail at Noble Parkway and tracks alongside the road heading south from Brooklyn Park through Brooklyn Center. Passing through...
The Northern Link Trail provides a pleasant walking and biking experience in Faribault County. The hard surface trail forms a V-shape, starting at the Two Rivers Park parking area in the east and...
This trail runs along the southern perimeter of Battle Creek Regional Park, wandering through wetlands, grasslands and woodlands all within a two-mile span. The trail begins on Point Douglas Road,...
The Cannon Valley Trail, which became a National Recreation Trail in 2018, links the southeastern Minnesota communities of Red Wing, Welch, and Cannon Falls along the former route of the Chicago Great...
The Great Northern Trail offers a paved north-south route across the city of Elk River on the fringe of the northwestern outskirts of Minneapolis. For nearly 5 miles, the rail-trail winds through the...
The Big Rivers Regional Trail runs along the upper portion of what was originally a two-tiered section of railroad track built for one of the state’s oldest lines, the Minnesota Central Railroad. At...
Opened in the summer of 2017, the Point Douglas Regional Trail offers a picturesque link along the Mississippi River between Prescott, WI, and Hastings, MN, on a former railroad called the Peanut...
As its name suggests, the trail is nestled in the woods along Sand Creek in Coon Rapids. Thickly shrouded by trees, the trail has a secluded feel despite its urban/ suburban location. The trail...
The Luce Line Trail occupies the former railbed of the Electric Short Line Railroad, started in 1908. The tracks continued to be expanded into the late 1920s, when the rail line became known as the...
The Johnson Parkway Regional Trail is a long overdue offroad bike trail that is now an integral part of St. Paul's Grand Round. Most of the trail runs through residential areas of St. Paul's East...
The Gateway State Trail is an 18.3-mile-long segment of the Willard Munger State Trail that offers an urban link to the countryside. The western end of this paved trail begins on the north end of...
The Chaska Ravine Trail is a hidden gem for cyclists and pedestrians looking to travel off the beaten path within the suburban community, offering a quiet, natural pathway right in the midst of...
The Sunrise Prairie Trail runs north-south atop an unused right-of-way along a Burlington Northern Railroad corridor, traversing residential neighborhoods in the towns and mostly farmland in its...
Crystal Lake Regional Trail connects two cities—Robbinsdale and Crystal—in the northwestern suburbs of Minneapolis. It also links to the Twin Lakes Regional Trail and the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway,...
The Luce Line Trail occupies the former railbed of the Electric Short Line Railroad, started in 1908. The tracks continued to be expanded into the late 1920s, when the rail line became known as the...
Nestled alongside Coon Creek, this two-lane asphalt trail runs between Northdale Boulevard and Coon Rapids Boulevard. The trail mostly travels within the wooded confines of two city parks: Erlander...
Minnesota’s Hiawatha LRT Trail runs along a north-south route paralleling both Hiawatha Avenue and the Metro Transit Blue Line in Minneapolis. The trail connects downtown Minneapolis and the vibrant...
The mighty Mississippi and Minnesota River are the two waterways connected by the River to River Greenway. (The project was formerly known by the less colorful moniker North Urban Regional Trail.)...
Although only 1 mile long, the Dinkytown Greenway provides an important link in a biking network connecting Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The trail begins near TCF Bank Stadium and runs through the...
The Waconia Shared Use Path allows residents to get to their neighborhoods parks safely on foot or by bike. The asphalt trail goes from Waterford Park in the west, a small park with passive green...
A quintessential part of St. Paul's extensive trails system, the Samuel H. Morgan Regional Trail offers a variety of sights and sounds along its nine-mile path, from gorgeous views of the Mississippi...
The Interlink Trail connects the southern end of Wisconsin’s portion of the 47-mile Gandy Dancer Trail with Interstate Park in St. Croix Falls. Along the way, the Polk County Information Center offers...
The Vermillion River Regional Greenway offers a beautiful, paved loop in the riverfront city of Hastings, which lies on the banks of the Mississippi in southeastern Minnesota. Highlights of the...
The Stower Seven Lakes State Trail runs for nearly 14 miles along an old railroad corridor between Amery and Dresser, passing through the towns of Deronda, Wanderoos and Nye. In Amery, the trail...
The Minnesota River Bluffs LRT Regional Trail runs southwest from the Minneapolis suburb of Hopkins to Carver Bluffs Parkway and Carver Creek Circle. The trail is over 19 miles in length and occupies...
The 5.5-mile Midtown Greenway follows a former railroad corridor through the heart of south Minneapolis, heading due west from the Mississippi River to the neighborhood of West Calhoun in the scenic...
This north-south path runs alongside McKnight Road on the border of St. Paul and Maplewood. Starting on Larpenteur Avenue, this blacktop path travels past residential neighborhoods and shopping...
The Hardwood Creek Regional Trail is actually two parallel trails running along US 61 in rural Washington County. The paved trail is open for biking, walking, running, and in-line skating, while the...
The Big Rivers Regional Trail runs along the upper portion of what was originally a two-tiered section of railroad track built for one of the state’s oldest lines, the Minnesota Central Railroad. At...
Nokomis-Minnesota River Regional Trail contributes 7 miles to the Twin Cities’ extensive network of regional trails. The paved path is 10-foot wide, providing room for a variety of trail users...
The 47-mile Gandy Dancer State Trail: Southern Section, between St. Croix Falls and Danbury, commemorates gandy dancers, those hardworking section crews who manually restored the railroad tracks in...
The West Medicine Lake is a 2.7-mile paved non-motorized pathway connecting two major regional trails: the Medicine Lake Regional Trail in Minneapolis and the Luce Line Trail in Plymouth. The trail...
The Elm Creek Park Reserve is an outdoor lovers’ dream. At 4,900 acres, it’s the largest park in Hennepin County. The park provides enough amenities to keep people coming all year round. Cyclists...
The Central Anoka County Regional Trail runs through Anoka County in the suburbs of Minneapolis/Saint Paul. When completed, it will be 26 miles long. As of 2019, four sections have been built,...
As its name suggests, the trail is nestled in the woods along Sand Creek in Coon Rapids. Thickly shrouded by trees, the trail has a secluded feel despite its urban/ suburban location. The trail...
Closure notice: Beginning Tuesday, May 26, a 6 mile portion of the Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail will be closed for reconstruction. The portion of trail affected by this closure is from 5th St. NW...
The Cherokee Trail connects two regional parks while providing some of the best views around of the Mighty Mississippi and downtown St. Paul. The wide asphalt trail begins on Plato Boulevard within...
Minnetonka, a suburb of Minneapolis, boasts over 90 miles of bike-ped trails and counting. The trails range from regional trails such as the Lake Minnetonka LRT Regional Trail to smaller local...
The Interlink Trail connects the southern end of Wisconsin’s portion of the 47-mile Gandy Dancer Trail with Interstate Park in St. Croix Falls. Along the way, the Polk County Information Center offers...
Shingle Creek Regional Trail branches out of the Rush Creek Regional Trail at Noble Parkway and tracks alongside the road heading south from Brooklyn Park through Brooklyn Center. Passing through...
At the heart of Minneapolis’ world class trail system is the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway, a series of interconnected parks and parkways that loop around the city, acting as a key connector to the entire...
The Junction Trail is a paved hike-and-bike path in Menomonie, Wisconsin. The trail sits in a converted Union Pacific railbed and travels through natural, residential and industrial areas as it heads...
Minnesota’s Hiawatha LRT Trail runs along a north-south route paralleling both Hiawatha Avenue and the Metro Transit Blue Line in Minneapolis. The trail connects downtown Minneapolis and the vibrant...
This north-south path runs alongside McKnight Road on the border of St. Paul and Maplewood. Starting on Larpenteur Avenue, this blacktop path travels past residential neighborhoods and shopping...
The mighty Mississippi and Minnesota River are the two waterways connected by the River to River Greenway. (The project was formerly known by the less colorful moniker North Urban Regional Trail.)...
Crystal Lake Regional Trail connects two cities—Robbinsdale and Crystal—in the northwestern suburbs of Minneapolis. It also links to the Twin Lakes Regional Trail and the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway,...
The Sunrise Prairie Trail runs north-south atop an unused right-of-way along a Burlington Northern Railroad corridor, traversing residential neighborhoods in the towns and mostly farmland in its...
The 5.5-mile Midtown Greenway follows a former railroad corridor through the heart of south Minneapolis, heading due west from the Mississippi River to the neighborhood of West Calhoun in the scenic...
A quintessential part of St. Paul's extensive trails system, the Samuel H. Morgan Regional Trail offers a variety of sights and sounds along its nine-mile path, from gorgeous views of the Mississippi...
One of Wisconsin’s earliest rail-trail conversions, the 14.5-mile Red Cedar State Trail is built on the former corridor of the Red Cedar Junction railway, which served Knapp, Stout & Co. in the...
The Cannon Valley Trail, which became a National Recreation Trail in 2018, links the southeastern Minnesota communities of Red Wing, Welch, and Cannon Falls along the former route of the Chicago Great...
The Brown’s Creek State Trail, which opened in October 2014, is a 5.9-mile addition to Minnesota’s extensive Willard Munger State Trail system. The rail-trail stretches from the St. Croix riverfront...
The Courthouse Loop Trail is one of several trails located in the Carver County city of Chaska. As the name suggests, the trail forms a loop around Courthouse Lake, which sits directly behind the...
Nicely maintained trail, but way too many crossings for a decent pace bike ride.
Beautiful scenery around Fort Snelling State Park and Minnehaha Falls to ride along. The path from the base of the old fort to the start of the Falls area is a bit of a rough ride with some bumps from tree routes breaking through
This trail is still closed at glenwood. When will it reopen !!!!???????
Today was 60 degrees, the warmest day of 2022 so far. Got out there to run. Lots of other people using the trail. Beautiful overlooks! The path into Eden Prairie from Chaska is largely unpaved. Some snow and ice still covers the ground.
This is the best trail in the Rochester area- only occasionally have to cross a lightly used road. Great natural surroundings with no close parallel highway. Path is pretty straight and level, and at 12 miles in length it’s the longest in the area. I Highly recommend it
I’ve been using this trail across the Saint Croix River for 40 years and every time I have to stop in the middle and look north all the beautiful islands and sailboats moored in front of Hudson. The trail is next to I94 so you’ll have noise but it’s worth it.
Agree with other reviewers. This is a poorly marked trail. Put some signs up showing where to go! We started downtown and that didn’t work. Maybe if you start at the falls you will have better luck.
We start from Gale Woods Farm and bike West to trail end at Babcock Avenue in Lester Prairie, where trail becomes ATV trail. Tried biking that unpaved part but it is full of the ballast rock from former railroad which made for bad ride. Trail section in Carver County has some bad pavement sections, but otherwise a smooth and flat trail. Near Lake Waconia a family has created a fantastic trail stop on their hobby farm with playground type equipment for the kids, animals to pet and feed, and benches to relax on. The best part is they have a refrigerator and freezer where you can buy a cold bottled water, popsicles, or Schwans ice cream bars for 50 cents to $1.00. We always stop to buy ice cream, pet the goats, cats, and miniature horses. Bring some nickles and you can buy corn to feed the animals. Stop in one of the towns along the trail to eat - we have a favorite in New Germany that has an outdoor patio and great pizza.
Would be great for biking or running, scary at many pets for rollerblading
straight and wide. it ends up by kwik trip on the north end which is good and on us 61 which sucks. other reviews say the trail is smooth. it is not. st paul trails are generally poorly cared for. the cracks are occasionally filled with tar but not filler so the bumps remain. contacting the city is worthless. they simply reply that your email has been forwarded to the responsible department.
The trail path is in excellent condition, no bumps or potholes. The terrain is level, the path is straight. A nice trail to just ride and enjoy being outside and riding.
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