Find the top rated mountain biking trails in Minnesota, whether you're looking for an easy short mountain biking trail or a long mountain biking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a mountain biking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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We were 1st time Minneapolis riders this year. We chose this trail to hopefully see some of the river, the falls, and get to downtown. We started at Fort Snelling and rode North. While we were unloading and setting up there was a steady stream of riders coming from the south. We finally watched a couple of the riders pick up their bikes and take walking trails down to a path that might have gone onto a bridge crossing the river. We were never sure. One commuter we spoke to, asked, "How long do have? Because you can ride forever in Minneapolis." Very true. This trail is well marked and well traveled. Always off the road, but crosses quite many. I enjoyed the energy seeing how well used the trail system is in town. We rode the to be able to cross the Stone Arch Bridge, then we turned and came back South to the fort. I'm surprised the trail hasn't been rated in while.
We started in Wayzata. There is a trailhead and parking VERY close to the lake near Depot Docks, but somewhat hard to find. Free parking reserved for those using the trail in the middle of otherwise permit parking. There is still a small detour on road, but I think it was only 1/2 mile extra, and probably 1 1/2 miles on road total on bike lanes.
We really enjoyed the ride around the lakes and the small towns. When the trail gets out to the Westonka Recreational Park area, you are in the country. It is a nice shaded summer ride. St.Bonifacious is about half way and a good place to stop for lunch. We were actually on our way back to Wayzata when we stopped for a late lunch. The towns out towards the west end had places with signs greeting bikers, but not much activity was visible. Good luck to them. It seems as of August 2017 the last mile is still gravel.
Gorgeous scenery from prairie flowers, forested areas, and of course the river! Hearing bird songs, seeing deer, squirrels, butterflies, caterpillars, and yes, a few harmless, small, snakes. This is biking in a gorgeous natural area with wildlife. And in Cannon Falls there are swans and ducks. This is a trail you have to ride and the current $4.00 fee is well worth it (MN DNR does not maintain so Red Wing & Cannon Falls use fee money to maintain trail). Many nice rest stops with gorgeous views. Marshall Memorial rest area at Belle Creek is one of our favorites. Nice flat, easy grade makes this an easy ride for any level of biker.
The trail is currently closed while it is getting a complete makeover.
No doubt the Mesabi Trail offers a unique experience that's hard to beat. Like the best of the rail trails, but with hills and curves added. I rode 106 miles in two days of round-trip riding from Chisholm to Grand Rapids and had a very good time doing so. Very nice scenery, not too many road crossings, an excellent surface.
The trail stops at the edge of most cities and takes to the road until the other end of town. Most of these segments were pretty well signed, but coming into Nashwauk from the east I encountered conflicting signs posted next to the road and painted on it, followed the wrong one, and went out of my way almost a mile before backtracking.
One poorly signed road section is not a surprise. The biggest surprise (apart from the fact that I didn't at all mind the hills) was the lack of any true trailheads along the way.
The ideal trailhead has a dedicated parking lot for trail users, picnic tables, water, toilet facilities, and the gold standard: shade and showers. Many trailheads lack one or more amenities, but typically a trail has one or two trailheads with most of them.
Many towns along the trail had little to no off-road adjacent parking, there were few bathrooms, and not one trailside place with water to fill my bottles.
Another quirk which is not so unusual was the mileposts. They were spotty for the first 10 miles, then much more prevalent. There were 3 places between 0 and 48 where I found unaccounted gaps of up to 1/2 mile between two mileposts, so by the time you reach 48 you've gone 49. And I went several miles further by riding the "official" (i.e., noted on the map) side trails at Pengilly and Chisholm. Add that to my off-trail adventure, and that's how it took 106 miles to do 48 miles out and back.
I parked next to Paul Bunyan and Babe in downtown Bemidji. Very nicely kept park, much improved from the abandoned amusement park that was there when I first saw them many years ago. I rode up the west shore of Lake Bemidji to the northern end, then through the state park and down the east shore of the lake.
I didn't have any issues with signage on the trail, although part of it just south of where I parked was closed for sidewalk construction. From the city trail 2 blocks west I made the connection to a trail bridge over the highway and continued on my way. The only confusion came on the north side of the bridge, where the trail loops back in the opposite direction before looping again at the lakeshore in an exaggerated "S" shape.
There were occasional views of the lake through the trees before lakeshore development took over and bumped the trail further away. The surface was excellent throughout. At the abrupt end of the trail I doubled back for a short while to the turnoff into Lake Bemidji State Park. This route had some ups and downs and fast curves before ending at a campsite. I then took the road straight through to the park entrance and turned left on the marked bike route, a county highway with a wide paved shoulder.
This is when I encountered the only less than ideal riding conditions. The paved shoulder disappeared and I had to continue a while longer until turning left again to head south on a rather busy state highway. But it wasn't long until I reached the turn to a quiet side street that took me the rest of the way to the college campus and a separate bike trail through the parks to Paul and Babe.
I then headed south through a well-signed on road section and back to dedicated trail south. I intended to stop at Guthrie and head back, but turned around sooner when Guthrie didn't show up where I expected, but threatening weather did. It was a very nice ride, and a little work to separate the full lake circle route from traffic would have made it perfect.
I had been on the Lake Wobegon trail many years ago to where it dead-ended north of Holdingford. Now I finally made it back to ride the extension to the Mississippi River and back. For added thrills I also rode to Albany for lunch and returned.
There seem to be at least 3 trails in Minnesota that use the Soo Line name so it gets a little confusing. This one is an extension of the spur line of the Lake Wobegon trail, starting a little north of Holdingford, which is itself north of Albany, which is on I-94 west of the Twin Cities.
Holdingford has a nice trailhead with all the facilities and a real-life boxcar for added atmosphere. The transition from Lake Wobegon to Soo Line trail is seamless.
The trail is wide, smooth, and has only a couple road crossings of any consequence. The Mississippi River bridge is quite spectacular; I stopped and took in the views of the river and dam for a while. Shortly after that I came to the end of the paved trail where it changes to ATV use. There's one highway bridge where both kinds of vehicles are allowed, but I didn't see any ATVs while I was there, and I doubt that there are many conflicts.
The northern trailhead was not as well-appointed as Holdingford, but still had the basic facilities. There was also a nice trailhead mid-trail in Bowlus.
Smooth, flat, scenic. A very nice ride.
I rode the Lutsen-to-Tofte section. It mostly runs alongside the highway and crosses driveways every few feet, so there's not of beautiful scenery. The trail is in good shape and well signposted.
Even though the lake is nearby, there aren't many sections when you even see it because of the trees and lakefront property between the trail and the shore.
On an overcast but pleasant summer afternoon, it was nearly deserted.
I wasn't expecting to ride this at all, but I checked in to the Hampton Inn at Canal Park, looked out the window, and there it was. At that end of the trail on a summer evening, there were crowds strolling up and down both the boardwalk that parallels the trail, and the trail itself, making it necessary to brake frequently to avoid running over people. The location and trail condition were great: perhaps on a different day or time it'd be possible to get up to speed and keep going.
I have been riding this tail with my brother for over 10 years. Trail is well maintained and has benches along the way for those that want a break or stop for some water. Love this trail and use it 4 times a week when the weather permits for bike riding.
This stretch was pretty miserable with my road bike due to the poor asphalt. My biking partners had mountain bikes and fared much better. It's an easy trail, very flat, and this stretch is pretty. But I won't bike it again until the long overdue repaving is complete.
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