Find the top rated cross country skiing trails in Winona, 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.
We’ve been enjoying this trail for 40 + years but have been noticing a decline in maintenance. Vegetation closing in on some sections and grading needed in others. Please help keep this treasure going for our future generations!
Great neighborhood route over the many train tracks.
We rode from Lanesboro to Fountain and back. Trail was in great condition 95% of the time with lots of shade and numerous interesting views. We started down the Harmony-Preston spur but turned back after a couple miles. It had lovely scenery but the condition is not up to par with the rest of the trail. From Lanesboro to Rushford the trail was A+, but slipped down to a B+ around Rushford. Happily after that area the trail went back to A++. The incline between Rushford and Houston is a bit challenging but so much fun on the downslopes!
Second long trip for me and the first trip that was mostly rail trail one quarter of which was the Elroy Sparta. Beautiful trail and the safety of being away from most automobile traffic made the trip way less stressful
The Tank Creek Bridge is out due to a fire in May, 2025. We detoured onto Highway 35 (almost 5 miles) then to County XX (about 6 miles) to reach Midway and the trail. XX starts out paved then gravel and old asphalt until you near Midway. The trail is gorgeous! Might need to come during fall foliage.
I need to ride this trail every time I cycle to almost anywhere in Rochester. I consider that a great privilege. It is such a beautiful trail that all my rides are joyful rides. Despite it being in an urban setting, wildlife can be frequently spotted. I've seen White-tail Deer, Giant Snapping Turtles, Bald Eagles, Great Blue Herons, Wood Ducks. I've heard and seen many songbirds, and Chorus Frogs can be heard here in the spring. The Southern section is heavily wooded along the creek, the Northern Section travels along the creek through Bear Creek and Slatterly Parks. There are multiple underpasses so you do not have to cross traffic at all.
This is an essential connector trail from the Douglas State Trail to the Rochester Minnesota city trail system. It runs on the same Chicago Great Western Railway route as the rest of the Douglas State Trail with the exception of its two bridges, the Arianna Celeste MacNamara Memorial Bridge over US 14 and the CP Railroad, and the David Rossman Memorial Bridge over Valleyhigh Drive, and the short segment that is an access easement through the former IBM property. Little Thistle Brewery is connected to this trail. Please use extra caution when crossing 19th Street, there have been serious bike/car collisions there.
We rode Sparta to Norwalk, through tunnel 3. Two of our group had ridden the entire length in the early 70s, so it was a nostalgic day. They recalled seeing farmland and we saw a little of that, but trees have grown up and it’s mainly a nice, shaded, flat ride.
well maintained trail. scenic views of farmland, small towns, wildlife along the trail.
Asphalt trail from Tarrant Park in Durand is rough with lots of twigs, grass growing between the asphalt, and repaired potholes. We went a little over 3 miles and turned around. It is mostly shaded. There are yellowflies. Would not do again.
A 5 star is really stretching this. I get the history of this being the 1st rail to trail and the cool tunnels, but the very narrow gravel path is not much to desire. The landscape doesn’t change much and the overgrown weeds and trees prevent much scenery. Occasional stream is a welcome sight on this boring path. America’s bicycle capital is needing a little update to encourage us to return. Glad we had headlamps for the almost two mile long tunnel raining on us. Riding, rather than walking was our choice to speed it up but if you’re not steady - then walk.
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