Find the top rated cross country skiing trails in Saint Cloud, whether you're looking for an easy short cross country skiing trail or a long cross country skiing trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a cross country skiing trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
As fans of public radio can tell you, this trail’s namesake is the fictional town of Lake Wobegon, made famous by author and radio personality Garrison Keillor of A Prairie Home Companion. Along the...
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...
Paul Bunyan State Trail, stretching 119 miles from Bemidji to Brainerd, is one of the longest rail-trails in the country. The multiuse, fully paved trail is mainly for nonmotorized use; however,...
The 22-mile original section of the paved Glacial Lakes State Trail follows the former right-of-way of the Burlington Northern Railroad between Willmar and about 1 mile west of Paynesville at...
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...
Sections of the Dakota Rail Regional Trail, which extends westward from the Minneapolis suburbs situated along Lake Minnetonka, have been opening since June 2009. The trail occupies the former Dakota...
Minnesota’s Rocori Trail, named for the three small towns through which it will eventually run (Rockville, Cold Spring, and Richmond), currently has two disconnected segments open for use. The...
The Soo Line Recreational Trail is a continuation of the Soo Line Trail (southern route) just north of Royalton, Minnesota. This 10-mile segment, however, does not permit motorized uses, unlike its...
Beaver Island Trail follows the route of an inactive railway that was originally part of a charter railroad of the Minneapolis and Northwestern Railway Company. Built in 1882, the railroad line...
The Soo Line Recreational Trail is a continuation of the Soo Line Trail (southern route) just north of Royalton, Minnesota. This 10-mile segment, however, does not permit motorized uses, unlike its...
Beaver Island Trail follows the route of an inactive railway that was originally part of a charter railroad of the Minneapolis and Northwestern Railway Company. Built in 1882, the railroad line...
Sections of the Dakota Rail Regional Trail, which extends westward from the Minneapolis suburbs situated along Lake Minnetonka, have been opening since June 2009. The trail occupies the former Dakota...
The Soo Line Trail Southern Route is more popularly known as the Soo Line South ATV Trail. The converted rail-trail runs for 105.6 miles in Minnesota between Royalton and the Minnesota–Wisconsin state...
The 22-mile original section of the paved Glacial Lakes State Trail follows the former right-of-way of the Burlington Northern Railroad between Willmar and about 1 mile west of Paynesville at...
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...
Paul Bunyan State Trail, stretching 119 miles from Bemidji to Brainerd, is one of the longest rail-trails in the country. The multiuse, fully paved trail is mainly for nonmotorized use; however,...
Minnesota’s Rocori Trail, named for the three small towns through which it will eventually run (Rockville, Cold Spring, and Richmond), currently has two disconnected segments open for use. The...
As fans of public radio can tell you, this trail’s namesake is the fictional town of Lake Wobegon, made famous by author and radio personality Garrison Keillor of A Prairie Home Companion. Along the...
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...
Minnesota’s Rocori Trail, named for the three small towns through which it will eventually run (Rockville, Cold Spring, and Richmond), currently has two disconnected segments open for use. The...
Sections of the Dakota Rail Regional Trail, which extends westward from the Minneapolis suburbs situated along Lake Minnetonka, have been opening since June 2009. The trail occupies the former Dakota...
Paul Bunyan State Trail, stretching 119 miles from Bemidji to Brainerd, is one of the longest rail-trails in the country. The multiuse, fully paved trail is mainly for nonmotorized use; however,...
The 22-mile original section of the paved Glacial Lakes State Trail follows the former right-of-way of the Burlington Northern Railroad between Willmar and about 1 mile west of Paynesville at...
The Soo Line Recreational Trail is a continuation of the Soo Line Trail (southern route) just north of Royalton, Minnesota. This 10-mile segment, however, does not permit motorized uses, unlike its...
Beaver Island Trail follows the route of an inactive railway that was originally part of a charter railroad of the Minneapolis and Northwestern Railway Company. Built in 1882, the railroad line...
As fans of public radio can tell you, this trail’s namesake is the fictional town of Lake Wobegon, made famous by author and radio personality Garrison Keillor of A Prairie Home Companion. Along the...
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 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 Soo Line Trail Southern Route is more popularly known as the Soo Line South ATV Trail. The converted rail-trail runs for 105.6 miles in Minnesota between Royalton and the Minnesota–Wisconsin state...
Our first ride, we rode the section from Pine River to Brainerd and back to Pine River (68.35 miles RT). Very nice trail, mostly flat. Follows the highway for the first 7 miles or so but then moves away. Most scenic from Nisswa to Brainerd. Many sections of bumpy “seams” but not the entire ride...they come and go. No one on the trail until the afternoon, then it became a little busy but mostly around the small towns. Many places to stop and rest along the way. Highlight of our ride was spotting two bald eagles perched in a tree no more than 50 ft from us. The 2nd section, we rode north, starting at the Walker Hotel, down to the trail and followed the trail to the 18 mile marker (41.32 miles RT). There were some rough spots in the trail but for the most part, it was a nice, quiet, smooth ride.
Beautiful ride with a few busy street crossings, but scenery and path through woods are lovely. Downside is only the walkers who won’t go single file when the path is narrow. Appreciate the rest stops throughout the trail.
A well maintained and popular loop trail. Hills are there but manageable. About 2/3 in woods 1/3 in wooded prairie. Trail has lots of turns and bends so passing and side by side riding can be a challenge. Map is useful since there are several offshoot trails leading to parking areas and spots.
I rode the full length of the trail and it is all pretty nice. A lot of it is shaded, but there are some sunny areas also. Beautiful scenery including woods, wetlands, farms and small towns. I didn't stop places this time, but I saw nice looking restaurants and ice cream shops for future stops. The first 8 miles from Wayzata has more intersections, some you will likely need to stop/wait at. There's one near the 8 mile marker where the trail turns onto a narrow sidewalk before crossing a busy road. That one was pretty annoying, but the others were only slightly inconvenient. After that, though, the intersections became less frequent and less busy. The western part of the trail (starting in Lester Prairie) was very smooth pavement and there were not many other people. Overall it was a great ride!
We loved our ride on the first half of the Soo Line southern trail. Due to a late start, we parked at the lot off of Highway 10 about 2 p.m. At first we were dismayed at the number of ATV trailers because we’ve been on shared trails before and they are not my favorite. Fortunately, the southern trail is all paved and non-motorized, so there was nothing to worry about! The trail is flat and well maintained. The only hill is the one out of the parking lot LOL! It varies between open farmlands and tree-lined woods. There was a nice breeze to keep us cool and enough shade for the hottest of summer days. There are three wooden bridges to cross that are a wee bit bone-jarring, but the views of the Mississippi are wonderful! Everyone told us to stop in Bowlus - a charming town with a nice community center with bathrooms, and you must stop at Jordie’s trail side cafe. The food is great! They have outdoor seating with lots of room between tables and a beautiful waterfall/pond. They serve lots of ice cream and pie, hence the title of this review. There’s ample parking in Bowlus as well, so we’ll start from here the next time and hopefully make it to Holdingford.
I've ridden this trail many times in the past. It's pretty much the same as most rail trails--flat & straight. This trail has quite a bit of open to the wind as well as sheltered mileage. You pass by some nice lakes but too much of it is too close to noisy, busy Hwy 23.
I've taken all the side routes also. This time I went clockwise around Lake Koronis starting at the Regional Park. There are some pretty steep hills and the routes aren't well marked. On the east side of the lake it's mostly roads.
The part I enjoyed the most was from Roscoe to Richmond which is separated from the Paynesville terminus by a few miles. But it was a pleasant surprise with lots of trees, fields, water but best of all away from Hwy 23. On the east side of Richmond towards Cold Spring it goes along noisy Hwy 23 again. There is the best trailhead in Richmond, most of the rest have almost nothing--maybe a porta potty but no water or shade.
Seclusion from the city. Runs along coon creek and through the woods most of the way. You spend about 4 minutes on the actual road. This will be a frequent bike path for me!
Smooth trail, gradual hills here and there. I pushed my kid in the jogging stroller while roller blading. Great scenery and shaded areas, saw a few deer, stopped at the playground on the way back to the parking lot.
I was pleased to ride the newly paved trail into Winsted. From there to the end of the pavement west of Hutchinson, it's 22 miles, so 44 miles round trip. Once you hit Hutch you can go about another 6 miles past some nice lakes & river water features. Also nice parks on west end of Hutch.
The scenery though is about the same start to finish except for Hutch. It's well shaded and flat. The only hill is a bridge over a busy highway. There are some corn/bean fields & lots of buckthorn, scrub trees and swamp.
We went to the trail 7/10/2020 at the south trail head to find the trail completely blocked off and posted for construction. They have torn out sections of pavement to be replaced.
No date was posted for reopening.
One of my favorite trails.We have biked here multiple times and most part of the trail is flat which makes it easy to go with kids too.
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