Find the top rated birding trails in New Ulm, 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.
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.
Fun enough for a little trail linking some suburban communities. The section of the trail in Cologne itself is prettiest, with a nicr downtown and lake view.
Amazing smooth ride where the trail has been resurfaced. West of Mound to the Carver cty line. As I live by this trail I ride it alot. Usually from Mound to Meyer. Nice surfaced ride with changing scenery.
We cycled from the Land of Memories Campground to the Mankato Family YMCA and started there. The first part of the trail passes through residential areas with a number of street crossings. The trail was rather narrow compared to other bike trails we have ridden. There are no mileage markers along the way.
The trail is shaded for most of the way and ends abruptly at Huffy Lane. There is no indication or sign that we had reached the end of the trail so we continued on the road for a couple of blocks to the small village of Rapidan. Not much there. The route towards Rapidan was a slight uphill grade so made for an easy ride back to Mankato. The trail is paved but could use a bit of maintenance in some sections. The trail was OK but nothing to rave about.
The day I went, it was not ridable west of Chaska.
We road out-and-back from the Masonic West Riverside Park campground in Hutchinson to Silver Lake which is approximately 20 miles round trip. The trail is fully paved in this section . It is a combination of shade and full sun as the trail meanders through cornfields.
The trail could use a little maintenance in certain sections. There were tree roots and wide cracks across the path but overall the trail in this segment was pretty good. It felt like a slight uphill grade to Silver Lake so we enjoyed a bit of a downhill back into Hutchinson. A few benches along the way but no other amenities except for Hutchinson.
Hutchinson has a number of parks along the trail with benches and sculptures which are very nice. I would recommend this trail.
We parked at the trailhead parking lot on Lime Valley Road in Mankato. If you use the address 193 Lime Valley Road you’ll find the trailhead. We cycled to Madison Lake before turning around. We have hybrid bicycles. Total round trip about 19 miles.
The trail is under a canopy of trees for the most part with the first two miles or so being heavily shaded. This is quite a change for us who spend most of our time in the desert southwest! There has been recent trail work in the first mile. Two or three very, very small sections of the trail were being repaired and waiting to be repaved. We’re talking maybe a couple of 50’ sections now on dirt but very passable. There was one road crossing where the actual road (not the trail) was being resurfaced so you had to walk your bike across the street. Overall, the surface of the trail was pretty good. There were a couple of spots where there were cracks across the entire trail but was manageable. As a previous reviewer mentioned, there are no trail markers on this trail so the bike odometer comes in handy. No amenities on the trail. There were a couple of new housing developments springing up alongside the trail so you find locals walking or jogging in those areas. I would recommend this segment of the trail.
Mostly gravel. Good ride. Road bikes watch out , if they are not made for gravel. Overall good, did 100 miles round trip from Schaper Park. Next time I will start at mile 0 of Luce Line State trail
We did a RT from Wayzata to St Bonifacious. Had a a nice brunch at the St Boni Bistro. Trail is in in good condition. Very enjoyable ride.
Coming from Minneapolis, once you near the city of Winsted, the paved section of the trail is very pleasing. Smooth, clear of debris and beautiful nature signs along the way to the rest of the trail. The cities along the entire trail offer food, restrooms, campsites and the amenities you might need. Well shaded trail due to the abundance of trees on the sides. Yes time to ride this trail is when it is dry, especially for road cyclist.
I rode from Faribault to a few miles past Madison Lake. Great paved trail in pristine condition. There was HIGHWAY/ROAD closure by Elysian on the road parallel to the trail for a couple miles. BUT, the paved trail is in the trees and NOT on the road…so no problem for riding. I did start at 6am to beat the 97f heat. 63mile round trip.
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