Find the top rated bike trails in Prior Lake, whether you're looking for an easy short bike trail or a long bike trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a bike trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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...
Beginning at the southern tip of the Crow-Hassan Park Reserve in Hanover, the Lake Independence Regional Trail spends most of its 15.9-mile span paralleling County Road 19, cutting a straight path...
The North Mississippi Regional Park is a fitting place to access and enjoy the Mississippi River. The linear park is walled by the I-94 freeway. The riverine trail follows the west bank of the languid...
The 5.9-mile Brown’s Creek State Trail, which opened in October 2014, is the latest addition to Minnesota’s extensive trail system. The rail-trail stretches from the St. Croix riverfront town of...
The trail is named in honor of Bruce Frank Vento, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1977 until his death in 2000, representing Minnesota’s fourth congressional district. Vento is...
The St. Paul Grand Round is a 26-mile route encircling Minnesota's capital. The loop was designed by Horace Cleveland, the landscape architect who also designed the Grand Rounds in neighboring...
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...
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...
A segment of the Minnesota River Greenway, spanning just shy of 4 miles, opened in June 2017. The paved trail traces the southern bank of the Minnesota River in Burnsville. A good place to begin your...
The Twin Lakes Regional Trail provides a conduit for both recreation and commuting between Brooklyn Center and Robbinsdale. This urban trail begins in the commercial area of Brooklyn Center, splitting...
The Hudson to Lakeland/Afton Trail begins at Buckeye Street in Hudson, Wisconsin, not far from the eastern bank of the St. Croix River. The paved trail parallels 2nd Street, heading south through...
The South Route Trail begins west of Mankato in Minneopa State Park, known for its beautiful waterfalls and views of the Minnesota River Valley. Heading southeast from the park, following County Road...
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 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...
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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...
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 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 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 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 Afton to Lakeland Trail links its namesake towns on the Minnesota side of the St. Croix River. The trail runs between Quinlan Avenue North/Eighth Street at Crocker Park in Lakeland and Pike Avenue...
At the heart of Minneapolis’ world class trail system in 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 Hudson to Lakeland/Afton Trail begins at Buckeye Street in Hudson, Wisconsin, not far from the eastern bank of the St. Croix River. The paved trail parallels 2nd Street, heading south through...
The Lake Minnetonka LRT Regional Trail begins in the vicinity of Eighth Avenue North in downtown Hopkins, just a few blocks north of the eastern endpoint of the Minnesota River Bluffs LRT Regional...
Medicine Lake Regional Trail offers a plethora of experiences along its nearly 16-mile length. Kicking off in the Elm Creek Park Reserve in the north, the trail cuts a swath through the Maple Grove...
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Rush Creek Regional Trail stretches 9.6 miles across forests and farmland, offering a convenient connection to some of Hennepin County’s most interesting parks. The path is smooth, wide and mostly...
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...
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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 North Mississippi Regional Park is a fitting place to access and enjoy the Mississippi River. The linear park is walled by the I-94 freeway. The riverine trail follows the west bank of the languid...
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...
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,...
Harriet Island Regional Park offers a beautiful recreational space along the Mississippi River in St. Paul, just across the river from downtown. A paved trail runs the length of the park spanning just...
The 5.9-mile Brown’s Creek State Trail, which opened in October 2014, is the latest addition to Minnesota’s extensive trail system. The rail-trail stretches from the St. Croix riverfront town of...
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...
The Bassett Creek Regional Trail is envisioned as an important connector between French Regional Park and Theodore Wirth Regional Park through the cities of Plymouth, New Hope, Crystal and Golden...
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 trail is named in honor of Bruce Frank Vento, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1977 until his death in 2000, representing Minnesota’s fourth congressional district. Vento is...
The West River Parkway Trail, also known as the Mississippi River Gorge Regional Trail, extends between Plymouth Avenue North opposite Boom Island and Ford Parkway in Minnehaha Regional Park, where...
Unlike its name would suggest, Nine Mile Creek is actually 15 miles from its headwaters at Minnetog Lake to the Minnesota River. This regional trail was constructed to meander alongside the creek as...
This paved trail links Minneapolis’s Warehouse District to both the Minnesota River Bluffs LRT Regional Trail and the Cedar Lake LRT Regional Trail in Hopkins. It also intersects the Kenilworth Trail...
At the heart of Minneapolis’ world class trail system in 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 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 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...
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...
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...
Although only stretching a half mile, the paved Red Wing Riverfront Trail, which opened in 2016, offers an important connection between two parks along the Mississippi River in the charming community...
Minnehaha Trail connects two popular parks in the Twin Cities as it follows the course of the Mississippi River through a corridor that is a mix of woodland and open areas. At the trail’s southern...
The Hudson to Lakeland/Afton Trail begins at Buckeye Street in Hudson, Wisconsin, not far from the eastern bank of the St. Croix River. The paved trail parallels 2nd Street, heading south through...
The Goodhue Pioneer State Trail is a work in progress as part of a planned 47-mile trail linking the cities of Red Wing, Goodhue, Zumbrota, Mazeppa, Bellechester, and Pine Island along an inactive...
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 paved trail links Minneapolis’s Warehouse District to both the Minnesota River Bluffs LRT Regional Trail and the Cedar Lake LRT Regional Trail in Hopkins. It also intersects the Kenilworth Trail...
The West River Parkway Trail, also known as the Mississippi River Gorge Regional Trail, extends between Plymouth Avenue North opposite Boom Island and Ford Parkway in Minnehaha Regional Park, where...
The Straight River Trail forms a backwards L as it runs north-south through Faribault and then curves west. The paved trail begins at the Cannon River Reservoir, then travels through woodlands in Two...
The paved North Minnesota River Trail hugs its namesake river for much of its journey on the western end of Mankato. Along the way, it offers views of the river, limestone cliffs and the city. From...
The 5.9-mile Brown’s Creek State Trail, which opened in October 2014, is the latest addition to Minnesota’s extensive trail system. The rail-trail stretches from the St. Croix riverfront town of...
Lake Phalen Trail offers a 3-mile paved loop around a popular lake in St. Paul. The tree-dotted pathway offers views of the lake on one side and pleasant neighborhoods on the other. It is nestled...
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 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 St. Paul Grand Round is a 26-mile route encircling Minnesota's capital. The loop was designed by Horace Cleveland, the landscape architect who also designed the Grand Rounds in neighboring...
Named after a Seneca Indian chief who lived in the area until the 1830s, the Red Jacket Trail runs along an old Milwaukee Road (formerly the Minnesota Railroad and the Central Railroad) right-of-way...
Rush line bus project 2018. No more Bruce Vento trail!
This was a very nice trail to bike on. It’s separated most of the way from the walking trail which is nice as I found a lot of people running/walking which would have crowded the trail if it was combined all the way around. There are plenty of different parking places located around the lake for easy access to the trail. Shading around the lake so you aren’t always riding in the sun.
This trail has been newly surfaced, so it is a nice smooth ride. It's not very busy so it is a good place to go for a family ride with younger children. However, there is nothing to see. If you get bored easily, this might not be the best trail for you. It is still worth doing once.
I road this trail end-to-end starting at the very nice Red Jacket Trail Park near the LeSeur River trestle, riding south to the trail end (no parking, ends at a country road), and then doubling back to ride to the north end in Mankato.
I even did an unintended but worthwhile side trip to Minneopa Falls park when I missed a sign at a trail intersection (some challenging hills on this route).
The trail length is definitely overstated in the description, closer to 6.5 miles than 13, but you can easily connect to other trails to extend your ride.
All-in-all a very nice trail that is in quite good condition.
If you make a right onto the Minnesota River trail when the trail ends in Mankato you ride right along the river on the water side of a flood wall. If you go about 3/4's of a mile to the trail entrance at E. Main Street there is some wonderful wall art on the city side of the flood wall.
In follow up to my review about a road crossing issue, I contacted CVT staff and they reached out to the city of Red Wing and the response from the public works department was basically, no it was not a detour issue, but rather a standing pattern as several factories in town all end work between 3 and 330. So if you intend to go into Red Wing from the west or come out of Red Wing from the east, be forewarned and plan to do so before 3 or after 330. I did then again contact CVT to suggest that maybe this should be an advisory on their website so you could check and see if they've posted something.
Except for this, it's a great trail.
Normally this is a really wonderful trail, a real nature bath, and it was for 8 miles today. We were out on the trail today heading from Welch to Red Wing - beautiful as usual - until we got close to Red Wing - I don't know the name of the street we were trying to cross but is is being used as a vehicle detour for another road that apparently is closed or has some issue. Basically, it was impossible to cross - there was continuous traffic and the trail crossing does not have a cross walk - I don't know if there are signs for the vehicles cautioning for the trail crossing but we waited about 5 minutes and not one vehicle showed even the slightest sign of recognition of the trail crossing. We wound up just turning around as we were not about to put ourselves into oblivious traffic. It seems that whoever designed the detour did not take the trail crossing into account. Very disappointing as we were hoping to reach the end of the CVT and hook up with the Hay Creek Trail. The fact that there is no cross walk suggests that it might normally be a low traffic crossing, clearly not the case today - this was about 3:15 PM, not even rush hour yet. I did send an email to the CVT organization and asked if there was something they could do or to contact the powers that be in Red Wing to make this a safer situation. While this is most likely a temporary situation, the time frame is not obvious, and the crossing needs to be safer now.
We had to do a 25 mile ride for our son's Merit Badge. And this trail was perfect. Lots of great shade on a hot day, beautiful scenery, birds, and even a turtle. There are a few hills but not anything hard.
Was a nice paved trail. A little bumpy riding out of Red Wing but smoothed out a couple miles in. At the trail end, in Cannon Falls is an excellent place to eat - Nicks Diner, which has good food and tasteful decor.
I'm surprised there are so few reviews of this trail -- it is one of the most unique rail-trails in the country. Since there had been multiple tracks on the property, the Park District was able to get an extraordinarily wide swath of land and they designed it so that it serves walkers, runners and bicyclists, each group on its own tread. Plus, there's even room for some attractive horticulture and plantings. And, if you're lucky, a train will whistle past on the remaining live track on the other side of the fence. I don't think there's another trail like it in the country.
This trail is beautiful and I've biked it often commuting to work (and run it). However, I'm very frustrated by the lack of connection to the trail - I understand the steep gradient presents a challenge but some stairs near Lexington and 13 would change my life and quite a few other people I've talked to. In part because the connections are few and far between, the trail is both isolated (halfway down a cliff) and can feel dangerous if you're by yourself and encounter a weirdo or two, which I have. Lighting would help, but ultimately better connectivity to 13 and making it a more-traveled route would improve my experience on this trail immensely.
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