Find the top rated birding trails in Menomonie, whether you're looking for an easy short birding trail or a long birding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a birding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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Rode this great trail from Cornell to Chippewa Falls and back. Great scenery especially along the river between Cornell and Jim Falls. I was under the assumption that this trail linked up to the Eau Claire section but trail markings end on the outskirts of Chippewa Falls. There are facilities in Jim Falls via the Hometown gas station. Went to Leinenkugel Brewery Visitor's Center hoping for lunch, but they only serve beer and pretzels. We look forward to riding again, especially in autumn!
Very nice trail for a hot summer day. Very shady and cool. The trail is very well maintained with a smooth gravel surface. Pretty much a straight run through deep woods with not a lot of scenery. While not spectacular, very quiet and pleasant. The ride south from Woodville is slightly more downhill than riding north from the southern trail end. Parking on the south end is non existent except for beside a country road. Plenty of parking in Woodville near the trail head, although not right at trail head.
Estimatehub's 2017 review is very accurate and makes many good detailed points in ways this beautiful trail should be improved. The Old Abe State Trail could use more signage reference points as this is a long trail and people traveling do not reference points as to where stuff is. There are NO BATHROOMS, WATER FOUNTAINS or TIRE PUMPS at the trailheads in Chippewa Falls, Jim Falls or Cornell as they consisted of a posted map, bench with a little sun protection and a parking lot....nothing special or unique at all. It's amazing to think that the state spent so much money on a nicely paved path and so little to welcome or comfort travelers. Much of the trail has 3 and 4G cellular coverage. You must ride through Brunet Island State Park at the Cornell end of the trail as it is breath taking and provides quality miles. There is a short connecting route to Lake Wissota State Park for additional mileage if one chooses. The Old Abe is a road biker's dream as it is very smooth, except for a few unexpected big bumps between miles 2 and 4. The trail was clear of any debris and had very few low hanging branches...hats off to the crew that maintain this trail. Thirty-three of the forty round trip miles I road on on July 25 were in the rain, many of which were poring, and the trail was safe and a great ride...no regrets.
great views, mostly shaded for warm sunny days, enjoyed being able to ride to old town Red Wing where there were multiple restaurant options for lunch.
Having riden most trails in SE MN we thought we’d give the Vermillion River Regional Greenway a try since we were passing by and we prefer loop trails. TrailLink parking info directed us to Vermillion Falls Park, which was very well kept and had ample parking. The map board at the trailhead entrance was cryptic and offered no indication that there was a contiguous loop trail around Hastings. The first couple miles were well paved and traversed along the edge of the city. Unfortunately, the trail meandered into the city and was poorly marked. We eventually lost any semblance of a bicycle trail and ended up utilizing our phone gps to direct us back to Vermillion Falls Park. Having biked thousands of miles across countless trails throughout the US, this was the first time we’ve had to use gps. While the region offers excellent scenery, until the trail offers better directions we probably will not return.
I echo all of the previous reviews. Absolutely breathtaking views on my fat bike of both the Red Cedar and Chippewa Rivers. Trail conditions were overall great however keep your eyes open for unexpected gopher holes. The path is fairly wide at all points. Some of the people on road bikes mentioned they had a bumpy ride. I started at Meridean on the CRST, biked up to Menomonie (nice trailhead welcoming center), back down the RCST, proceeded to Durand and then back to Meridean for a total of 51 miles. There were nice logical scenic spots to take a break along the way with clean restrooms, water and tire pumps. There were deer along several spots along the trail. While on my ride, a DNR worker with a polite disposition was busily performing maintenance on a culvert on the trail...good to see. BE SURE TO PACK BUG SPRAY if you plan on stopping for more than 10-15 seconds on the lower end of the trail. Definite 5* must ride, scenic and peaceful trail.
Fabulous trail—beautiful and peaceful. But my wife and I suffered our second worst bug attack of our 50 years—mosquitos and and deer flies. Bring spray and be ready to ride quickly with no breaks.
We've ridden this trail at least once a year and it's a local favorite. It connects with the Gateway Trail and follows the creek down to Stillwater. Its popular with the locals and well as tourists. There's no parking in the western start of the trail, so I would recommend parking at the Pine Point trailhead (tons of parking, water and bathrooms). There is a tiny parking lot off of Highway 96, but it's almost always full on weekends, even early in the morning.
If you start at the western trailhead off of the Gateway, the trip to Stillwater is downhill, but you really don't notice it too much, even the trip back is pleasant. There are a few places where you traverse a local golf course but the majority of the trail is through some lovely wooded areas. I've almost ridden off into the trees because I've been gawking at the beautiful scenery!
You can continue to explore Stillwater at the trail's end, or head north to William O'Brien State Park and the lovely river towns of Marine on St. Croix and Copas. It's a great little trail!
We rode the western half of the trail on a humid and hot weekend but we were pleasantly surprised at the amount of shade and tree coverage. It cut the heat and also the headwinds from the west which made our ride very comfortable. This part of the trial is nicely paved, which makes it fast and flat. There are at least a half-dozen small bridges over farmland creeks and at one point, you come across a large bend in the Chippewa River which is beautiful. It intersects with the Red Cedar Trail, which is a nice detour to Menomonie, or you can continue east towards Eau Claire.
After 7 or so miles, the trail turns to crushed gravel, which is pretty easy to ride over, but they've patched the potholes with asphalt, which makes it bumpy. It's fairly maintained but could use a little more maintenance. We have hybrid bikes and made it just fine, and there were several riders with skinny road bikes and they seemed to be doing okay. It is a slight disappointment after the perfect grooming of the western part of the trail.
The trailhead out of Durand has a lot of parking, rest rooms with running water and a drinking fountain, so you can fill your water bottles. Durand has a few places to eat, there's not much along the trail.
We stopped in Meridean, a historic village with an intriguing history. There's a parking lot and porto-potti, but I didn't see any water fountains. Next time we'll start in Meridean and finish the trail to Eau Claire. It was a great trail for a summer's day - lush surroundings and tons of wildflowers.
We started at the Petro Truck stop just off of Hwy 52 and 117th Street. Upon finishing our ride, we determined that there is a nice trailhead, appears to be just north of this truck stop. We used the truck stop and headed out on the trail just out of the south end of the parking lot.
Overall the trail was in great condition and well marked. The only spot that we did not see any marking was at the intersection of Cahill and Concord Boulevard. We continued north and went up into the neighborhoods of Inver Grove Heights - also a nice continuance of the trail. One of the riders in our party did head "east" along Concord down to the Swing Bridge Park. This was also a great section of trail, challenge is that you are going down hill to the river, so the return means that is UP hill from the river. Manageable but a good climb.
I will be back again to ride further into St Paul via the trail!
If you have bikes on car rack - park your car at the Beer Stube Restaurant and bowling alley in Red Wing. Unload in parking lot and across the street you will find start of a Red Wing city asphalt trail that will take you to the Goodhue Trail. (Added bonus is that there will be a cold beer waiting for you upon your return at the Stube). The Goodhue state park trail meanders on asphalt path along hay creek. Lots of birds - watch during summmer for nesting Rose Breasted Groossbeak and Baltimore Oriole - among others. Trail abuts horse trail - lots of horse riders. Lots of bridges over creek to cross. Trails ends at campground - nice saloon there to whet your whistle or grab a bite to eat. Find it hard that anyone could give this trail less than five stars. Round trip mileage was 13 miles for the route above.
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