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We ride the Lake Wobegone trail at least annually. This year we've been riding twice! We usually start in St. Joseph at the the trailhead, and bike to Albany, and then turn and ride to Holdingford. The trail and towns along the way have nice resting areas with bathrooms and drinking fountains to refill your water bottle. This route is very peaceful-small towns, lakes, and countryside. The Lake Wobegone trail also continues from Holdingford to Bowlus. At one point, the trail switches to the Soo Line trail. This route goes on to just north of Royalton. We've started at the Royalton (Soo Line) access off Highway 10 and ridden the trail in reverse. We've also been on the trail starting at Sauk Center and biked to Osakis where it links to the Central Lakes Trail. More beautiful views of Minnesota. Minnesota is not just the Land of 10,000 lakes, but the home of many great biketrails!!!
Trail is closed just north of Willmar - very soft trail at about 5 miles out. Trail from Spicer to Paynesville is great
This is one of my favorite trails in the city. Park at the parking lot at Stubbs Bay and bike 10 miles to Watertown. Mario's is a great cafe stop before turning back. The trail is not crowded and offers beautiful views of farms, small lakes and woodlands. Some day I want to ride west of Watertown and see what Winston is like.
Last October, the section from Winsted to Hutchinson was paved. It's a great route. One hiccup to get around is small unfinished portion just west of town. The ride to Hutchinson is great. Stop by the Crow River Winery on your way in to town. Then use the miles of trails and bike routes throughout the city.
On March 12, 2016 my wife, our 8 year old daughters and I rode bike from Willmar to Spicer. Smooth 6 mile ride. We crossed a few gravel roads, but traffic was not a concern. The Highway 23 underpass eliminates the worry of crossing a busy highway. We stopped at Subway, a few feet off the trail, in Spicer. After lunch we turned around and traveled back to Willmar. Our daughters handled the ride very well. They did last year at 7 also. They have good bikes from Rick's Cycling in Willmar, not discount store, bikes.
Overall great little trip, get out and ride, they grow up fast.
This is a great new paved segment (~20 miles) of the Luce Line but it's kinda separated from the metro Luce. Hutchinson has done a nice job with parks & city trails as well as underpasses/bridges. There's also a nice city park in Hutch for camping. The day I did it they were working on intersections putting in concrete aprons.
The Winsted end is a mess. The trail abruptly ends a little west of Winsted with no signs specifying where to go. I went on a loose gravel road to get into town. East of Winsted it's a mix or loose gravel, dirt ... a slow go.
We have been on a mission to bike all the state managed bike trails in MN. This trail was somewhat disappointing compared to many others. After reading some of the other reviews I would agree that it does not have many of the amenities we have come to expect like benches/ porta potties at rest stops. We biked only the portion from Paynesville to New London since it was the closest point for us. We could not even find a decent start point in Paynesville. We parked next to the cemetery on a pulloff spot because there was no parking at all at the 'trailhead' indicated on the map. I suppose there may have been other spots including the high school that a person could choose but not knowing the area we had no idea. I would describe the trail to New London as:
A very nice, smooth surface
Pretty but next to a busy road quite a bit
Mostly uphill
Not much tree cover
Appreciated the trailhead in Hawick with parking and potty (we should have started here)
Found the trailhead at the end in New London to be lacking. They seem to be working on it still but it was very exposed. We went past it into town and the 'rest stop' indicated was a convenience store with a picnic table behind it next to the dumpster.
In summary I would say that it is not one we will go back to however, I can see by other reviews that the Spicer end near Green Lake might have been more enjoyable.
We only rode 7-8 miles from Theodore Wirth to Medicine Lake and back but it was a pretty trail, interesting and mostly well maintained and marked
Awesome trail you will enjoy it
Every year sometime between Father's Day and the 4th of July the Minnesota State Flower blooms along the Lake Wobegon Trail.
There's even a bike ride dedicated these lovely flowers and it's call the "Lady Slipper Nature Ride" and MN Master Naturalists are stationed along the trail to share their knowledge and answer questions about the flowers or any other natural aspects of the trail.
For more info on the ride go to www.ladyslipperride.com
This native orchid is the Showy Pink & White Lady Slipper. It's flower looks like baby's moccasin and is also referred to as the moccasin flower. It's protected by state law making it illegal to dig them up or to pick them.
But you can take all the photos you want! Just don't get too close to them or you can potentially kill the plants. Use the zoom on your camera to get that close up picture!
They require a unique environment to grow including a boggy soil, filtered sunlight and a special fungus in the soil for them to mature and create their stunning flowers!
You can find pictures on the trail website at http://lwtrails.com/gallery/Site/index/Pages/Lady_Slipper.html
It can take up to 15 years for the first flower to appear. So enjoy them as I do every year but try not to stand too close and risk compacting the soil and killing these lovely native orchids.... Happy Trails!
Cliff
PS for more information on the Lady Slippers go to http://lakewobegontrail.com/Websites/lakewobegontrail/images/2014_Vers_Lady_Slipper_Brochure.pdf
Cliff Borgerding
Lake Wobegon Trails Association
33504 Shorewood Dr
Avon MN 56310
320-293-9364
Cliff@lwtrails.com
The highlight of the Glacial Lakes Trail is the ride around Green Lake. The path is wide and separated most of the way around the 12 miles. Pick a quiet time of the year and also enjoy the Spicer eateries. We used to live on the North Shore.
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