Find the top rated cross country skiing trails in Minnesota, 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.
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TV Rode this trail from Hopkins to Carver and back, a total of 40.2 miles. While the trail is mostly smooth, it is a mixed bag of Surfaces ranging from brand new asphalt to gravel/dirt. Some of it is perfect, some of it is neglected, cracked and bumpy asphalt with weeds growing up through it. Based upon the name I expected the trail to be more scenic than it was with the first half of the trail running along the light rail line and through industrial and residential areas. The second half wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t very dramatic. If you do decide to ride this trail, I’d recommend using GPS on your cell phone as the signage is lacking and it’s easy to make a wrong turn onto an adjacent trail
This was the first time on this trail for our group of three. We started at the Bryant Lake dog park, which was a nice little ride in itself. The weather was gorgeous, a little cool, but bright and sunny. The trail conditions were good to great. At least half of the leaves were down, which made it great for deer watching. We jumped one massive buck with a huge rack. Then a little further down the trail on the opposite side was another smaller buck. Our trip down the trail brought us to Chaska, On our return trip was when we saw the two younger deer snacking on an “after Halloween” pumpkin. I’d recommend this trail to anyone who’s looking to see a little wildlife. This ride was a perfect “almost” end of season ride
We’re back! This is one of our faves … smooth and level trail thru the woods, beautiful neighborhoods and stunning lake views! We’ll be back again.
While a bit rougher than the southern half or the western part of the midland trail; the Paul Bunyan is a very good experience. I used Soulshine cycles In Walker to shuttle me and my luggage. They are a top notch service and I highly recommend them to you. While the pavement is a bit rougher in some locations it was not dangerous or distracting . My late September trip hit a weather window most people could die for. L
Started at Crow wing State Park headed north. The first five mile through the park are exceptional. Lots of curves and ups and downs. Most enjoyable. Other wise it is a classic Rails to Trail. Straight and gentle grades through forested and farmed lands with lakes to view along the way. Close to roads but mostly with screen of forests between the trail and the roads, The section from Pine River north to Hackensack is freshly paved and glass-.smooth. They’ve done a wonderful job. And I highly recommend making a trip to ride that section
Nice trail with pretty views and flat riding for the most part.
My husband and I rode the Mesabi trail in early September. The maples were just beginning to change and fall was in the air. It’s a beautiful well-maintained trail. We liked the variety of up and down, something you don’t always get on a strictly rail trail. The small towns along the way are charming. However, know that you are often riding on streets and some towns have better signage than others. Notes from SpiketheBiker were especially helpful. (Referenced below.) We are 65 year olds who ride in Colorado and Wyoming with hills and wind. We usually do anywhere from 20 to 40 mile rides 2 - 3 times a week. We bikepacked from Grand Rapids to Ely in 3 days, (loaded with 20 lb panniers) staying in campgrounds most nights. We did get rerouted around Giant’s Ridge due to work on the trail and ended up just riding the highway all the way into Tower (25 miles). It had an OK shoulder most of the way, but would not recommend riding it with weekend traffic. It was hard to find many details about the trail online until I found SpiketheBiker’s post on Trip Advisor dated June 26, 2023. A big shoutout to them. The post was helpful and accurate. Several had mentioned a long 8% grade hill which had me a bit concerned, but never really said where it was and I never figured it out either. There are definitely some leg burning hills, but the only one that caused me to stop several times was one on the highway to Tower, other than that the others were manageable and I didn’t think terribly long even riding loaded. Our favorite part was between Tower and Ely. It is the newest and smoothest section. Absolutely beautiful at the top by Eagle’s Nest where we did see a bear, but it seemed more scared of us than we were of it. We stayed at Itasca County Fairgrounds in Grand Rapids, Chisholm Iron Trail Campground in Chisholm, and Hoodoo Campground in Tower (although the Vermillion state park might have been a better choice because you don’t have to leave the trail and it’s less expensive, but also no showers). A big shoutout to Ron and Lara in Ely for the warm shower and bed. Also recommend Brainstorm Cafe in Ely for coffee/tea/smoothies and bakery goodies. Yum! Highly recommend the Mesabi Trail even though it’s not a rail trail per se, it is just the right amount of challenge. There are also plenty of entry points to do out and backs if you don’t want to do the whole trail.
Great trail! Connects to other well-paved regional and local trails. Need more exploring to do.
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!
Yesterday we rode this very bumpy trail. Part of the Cedar Lake trail is closed and hopefully there’s some resurfacing going on in the area. Still busy on a Sunday afternoon but in need of new paving!
It was a beautiful trail that was paved. Most of the trail was going through woods with a short section of road riding. We stopped in Rainier to enjoy a restaurant and ice cream treats with live entertainment. We rode it in June 2025.
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