I average about 3,500 miles per year of Rollerblading on the Dakota Rail Trail. Today I just got my 125th day in a row of Rollerblading a marathon. I'm hoping to get to 150, but it's getting more challenging as all the leaves fall and cover the trail completely. The Hennepin County portion of the trail is beautifully maintained from Hunter's Trail to Wayzata. The west portion to Lester Prairie is horribly maintained for Rollerblading with jarring trail patches, and tons of rocks, sticks, and leaves.

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.

Became one of my favorites.

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.

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.