One of my fav trails!!! Follows the river, through a wildlife area, ends at a cool bridge with a connection to the Chippewa river trail. Total lack of human noise for most of this trail!!!!! It is in great shape Friday.

The Elroy Sparta trail is a great experience. Some comments:
1. The first half from Sparta to Winton is the most popular part and is in the best shape.
2. While it is only at a 3% grade, the first 8 miles to Tunnel 3 is consistently up hill. Coming down is more fun!
3. The last section from Kendall to Elroy is closed because is bridge is out.
Suggestion for the intrepid, take County highway W instead. It is fabulously beautiful, but the hills almost killed me!
4. It took me five hours to ride the 34 miles. I’m not a particularly slow rider, but you have to keep in mind that there are three climbs (up to the tunnels), you must walk through these tunnels and one is ¾ mile long, and riding on crushed limestone is slow
5. I only saw the water and toilets at the middle stop, so don't skip them.
6. The 400 Trail connections at Elroy, as does the Hillsboro Spur (5 miles).
7. The Omaha Spur also connects in Elroy. It is not widely promoted as it is run by the country government (not the DNR), but it has its own tunnel and it is largely paved so the ride is faster.

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 this trail riding with friends. We rode into Rockland for a water break. Crushed stone firmly pack made ride doable for my husbands road bike. Three trains passed us while riding, so glad we found Rails to Trails!

We road 30 miles on the trail, it was nicely packed down crushed rock. We were amazed at the temperature change between outside the tunnel and inside! The tunnel is such a neat experience! It’s cool in temp, dark and wet with water dripping from the top of the ceiling! Note- bikes must be walked through the tunnel, its about .75 mile, have light on your bike or a flashlight, maybe a towel to wipe off your bike and enjoy!

Starting in Sparta and heading towards Wilton there is a steady 3% grade - which made for a fun return journey. The trail was in good conditions with just a couple of watch outs. The two tunnels we went through were very cool - the longest one was really quite wet so be prepared and bring lights. Great places to stop and snack in both Norwalk and Wilton. Quite some shade along the trail - so good for hot sunny days!

This review is for the three segments of the Root River Trail that we cycled. We began each ride from Sylvan City Park in Lanesboro. The rides were out-and-back on hybrid, non e-bikes. We were quite surprised at how many people now have e-bikes! Overall, highly recommend the trail. For theatre lovers, try to catch a play at the Commonweal Theatre in Lanesboro. I was surprised at the quality of the plays produced in such a small town.

Lanesboro to Whalan (+3 miles beyond Whalan): This segment of the trail is very popular since the trail went into the small village of Whalan which is famous for its pie shop (open only on the weekends now). The trail surface was excellent and the trail was flat. The trail is mostly shaded and runs parallel to the river at some points. There are a couple of dirt rural road crossings. Besides the pie shop, there is a recently renovated train depot in Whalan that has snacks, water, soda, etc and WiFi. The biggest complaint I had about this segment and all the segments we rode was the low overhanging tree branches. Good thing we wore helmets and sunglasses to avoid getting brushed or poked in the eye with branches. Total roundtrip about 17 miles.

Lanesboro to Fountain: This segment of the trail surface was also excellent. Except for the starting and ending points of Lanesboro and Fountain, there are no amenities on the trail. About 5 miles before reaching Fountain, the trail begins a mild uphill grade into Fountain making for a great 5 mile downhill on the way back. The trail is mostly shaded. Total roundtrip about 20 miles.

Lanesboro to Preston: The trail surface on this segment of the trail was the worse of the three. The trail was bumpy. There were tree roots on the trail, holes, and ruts. As with the other segments, the trail was mostly shaded and ended at the trailhead parking lot just outside of downtown Preston. Preston has some amenities like a brewery, sandwich shop and grocery store. This section would be very nice if the trail surface was fixed. Total roundtrip about 20 miles.

It’s been 3 years since we had ridden this trail. It’s still a nice trail. Recent rains left a few spots washed out but repairs are in progress. There were very few other people on the trail for a Saturday morning. We did encounter deer on the trail.