Great trail, a must if in the area.

Great evening ride after 7 hours in the car. Riding a Trek Domane w/ 33x700 tires, Susan riding Trek Checkpoint. Yes the trail could use a little work, especially the bridge approaches. Still felt smoother than portions of I-90. The curves and short hills were a delight. We ride in the mountains of eastern Washington where our typical ride involves 2500-3000 vertical feet of climbing, so not really hills.

This trail wonders through tree tunnels, bridges over train tracks, grassy fields full of wildflowers and spotted several groups of deer. Many places along the route however have bad cracks and yes I worried about my spokes as did the 2014 reviewer. Was surprised to see the 2017 review said it was newly paved. Beautiful ride just watch the road.

I rode from Pine Island to a park in northern Rochester and back, total of 22 miles R/T. 95% of the ride was under tree canopy, so perfect trail for you "shade worshippers" like me (having recently been diagnosed with skin cancer). Condition of trail is not perfect (which trails are?), but certainly very good. A few spots are rough and in need of some maintenance. Very flat and comfortable ride. Weren't a lot of "creatures" along the way, but did see squirrels, gophers, Baltimore Oriole and a lone deer.

Only negative comment I have is that there were several road crossings that slowed me down, but they were gravel roads with minimal vehicle traffic.

Definitely near the top of my "best" list.

My 14 year old daughter and I rode this trail from Mankato to Elysian and back. There are a few places where the trail was out in the open sun, but it was mostly shaded and in good shape. There were a few short patches close to Mankato where they appear to be resurfacing. It would be dirt or rock for about 20 feet or so. No big deal as the rest of the trail was in great shape. There are not a lot of services on this segment of the trail. A port-a-potty in Madison lake. No water until Elysian. It seems the trail was slightly uphill heading east. My daughter struggled a bit on the way to Elysian -- there was also a slight headwind. But the return trip was smooth sailing.

In Elysian there was a wonderful ice cream shop called Scoops right off of the trail. They had plenty of tables outside in the shade, good ice cream and there were other riders there to chat with. Highly recommend this stop!

One thing to note: the trail endpoint in Mankato doesn't have parking and we couldn't find the trail. Instead go to the first parking marker on the Mankato end which is about .5 miles from the actual endpoint.

I went from Fountain to Houston on Monday. Left my car in the lot and pedaled to Houston. Wow, what a beautiful trail! Having been on many trails I rate this in the top for sure! Heading east from Fountain is a breeze as it is almost 9 miles of downhill. More challenging at the end of 42 miles heading east on the return. The hills west of Houston are fun too.
I stayed at the Sawmill Inn in Houston (super comfy!!!!) and return biked Tues am.
Highly recommend this trail!

We picked up the trail at Riverside Park and found a good amount if the trail was on the streets, in neighborhoods not very scenic.

We enjoyed our ride on the Cannon Valley Trail. Small fissures are clearly marked and are to be expected since maintenance depends on volunteers. Only wish underbrush could be cleared where the trail wends close to the river for better river views. We road round trip from Cannon Falls to Red Wing.

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.