Root River State Trail
MN - 42.1 miles
Surfaces: Asphalt
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I was traveling north from Hastings and the trail was closed at the lock. Made for a short trip.
Paved with wooded road and beach landscape. Beautiful views
The trail is beautiful but really rough. It sure how it can be labeled wheel chair assessable. We had e-bikes and couldn’t complete the trail because of all the roots. We even stopped at the visitor center to make sure our bikes could make it. Also the trail from Golden Pond to Cadiz isn’t marked well starting at GP. Never saw the trail split off and we ended up in way the wrong place. The scenery is gorgeous just not as advertised in writing or verbally expressed.
We rode the trail northbound from Palmer Park. One caution I'd offer is it can be confusing because the signage reflects the Ice Age Trail more than the Spring Brook Trail. Possibly because this area seems to be convergent with several trails, including the Peace trail heading south (another very nice ride). Back to the northbound ride; once you go under highway 14, you'll find the trail splits, showing the Ice Age Trail turning left/westbound, and another trail (unmarked) heading due north. We decided to investigate the unmarked trail and found it very pleasant. The trail ended at East Rotamer Road, a short distance east of the left trailhead had we taken the other option by highway 14. We decided to ride E. Rotamer Rd. Westbound a short distance to the other trailhead and take it back to Palmer Park. Travel on Rotamer road was very easy. Designated bike lanes and light traffic helped considerably. In the end, the loop was a wonderful, enjoyable ride. As an aside, taking the trail south from Palmer Park, in the area of the Rotary Botanical Garden, you'll find the Peace Trail. One final note: there are several trail options in area; you might consider keeping your trail app active. My wife and I will definitely be returning.
As others have said, the short paved part is beautiful. The rest is larger rocks surface in many areas and the path is very narrow. I’ve ridden some rough paths before but this one takes the cake. I turned around after one mile and decided that it wasn’t for me.
I rode this trail twice while visiting the Valley. I rode this trail from my mom’s house in Donna to the entrance on Silver Street. I took the trail south to South St the east to Harlan Park in Weslaco. I rode a few miles in Weslaco the got back on the trail. I headed West to Donna and onto Val Verde Rd where the trail ends. I turned south on Val Verde and rode to Donna Lake then onto the first levy. I then reversed my course to ride back to my mom’s house on 13th Street in Donna. I did this same route two days later but at night. It was even nice since the trail is well lit. I also have lights for when I was on the gravel roads and levy at night.
We parked in Orwell and biked South to Bristolville and turned around. Then back to Orwell for lunch at the Mexican restaurant along the trail. Great food and service with outdoor seating. They will also fill your water bottles with water and ice. After lunch we headed North to Rock Spring. Total 36 miles round trip. This trail is virtually flat as well as straight. Most of it is very well shaded. Trail in very good paved condition though between Oakfield and Bristol a stretch about 1/10 of a mile with some kind of speed bumps every 20 feet. We are not sure what the purpose of that is, they are marked with paint. If you can just overlook that, the rest of the trail is super!
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A great bike path to ride and enjoy the outdoors. A great place that is a two car wide paved path with absolutely no cars to worry about. Nice facilities along the way and friendly people. This would be a great place for a family or group ride.
The bridge at Abita Springs is being completely rebuilt but a temporary bridge is in place. It is accessed through the city park. The short path associated with the temporary bridge has a few rough spots which require you to dismount your bike.
Beautiful 1st ride on the Norwottuck Rail Trail. We parked at the Marshalls in Hadley (trail starts right behind the building) and road a little over 10 miles into EastHampton and back. It was a very easy ride (my 1st ride of this length) on asphalt.
My son and I rode this on a drizzly Monday, so pretty much had the entire trail to ourselves. We left a car in Bristol, drove to Mendota and rode one way. If you do that, know the drive will take a while on some narrow backroads. Also be aware that the trail from N to S is a steady climb; even a 3% grade can wear you down after 10 miles. The trail is almost all gravel, and the road crossings are mostly across dirt roads. There’s a stop with water at mile 5.5 heading north, mile 7 heading south.
I rode this trail on an letrick trike XP, on a very warm day with lots of sunshine. Out to mile marker 4 turned around and returned in a downpour. Weather can be fickle in mountains. Loved the trail and the views.
We parked at the trailhead in Dysart; first riding west to the end of the paved trail, then on to the main trail. The first several miles are not maintained all that well; lots of small sink holes that need repair, and one very large low portion completely flooded by recent rains. The trail is basically rural along its entirety; not much population nor competition with other users. We did occur several people walking dogs so be conscious of their needs. Sections where there is heavy shade, as well as exposed to the sun. Overall the trail is nice and relatively private. At the “midpoint” in Garrison, there is a nice rest stop that has water as another stated, as well as a bike repair station. Trail arrives in Vinton; not sure where it leads to there as we turned around. There’s are some sections where it’s clear the trail nee
I was excited to run on the Riverwalk Trail. Unfortunately the reviews are all from many years ago and things have definitely changed. On a beautiful Sunday morning I was the only runner, passing homeless people and their tents along the way. I couldn’t run through several of the undercrossings because there were homeless men sitting on the trail at the bottom. In one case two men were passed out with their legs sticking out on the trail. I had to backtrack and cross to the other side to avoid a large group of homeless men standing on both sides of the trail. Much of the trail is surrounded by chain link fences to keep the homeless (I’m assuming) from setting up camp under the overcrossings. I would never use this trail again. Much better to fight the crowds along the West Cliff trail.
We had the absolute pleasure of riding various sections of the Mickelson Trail and the scenery was just amazing. It goes through such a beautiful part of the Black Hills and is such a well maintained trail. I can't say enough good things about this trail and how much we enjoyed it, but there was a couple of things I am very disappointed in. First, in Hill City where the trail crosses Route 385 right at the 1880's Train, which we also absolutely loved by the way, there is a highway crossing with crosswalk signs and lines painted on the road. Both times we tried crossing we patiently waited for a break in traffic, because absolutely nobody stops or slows down for the crosswalk, and both times we were nearly hit because traffic flies around the curve with very little line of sight. I would avoid this crossing, especially if you have children, as you are taking your life into your own hands. Hill City needs to install flashing lights to alert drivers that people are trying to cross at this marked crosswalk. Hill City has a great parking area to access the trail, but someone is going to get killed trying to cross this busy highway if nothing is done to improve safety. Another disappointment was the Edgemont "Trailhead". You get to the trailhead and there are no signs to point you to the trail and we walked all through the park looking for anything that resembled a bike trail. I finally walked down the street into town and found a local who said the trail actually starts about a mile or so north from the "trailhead" and you ride on streets trying to find the actual trail. There are no signs directing you to the trail. We gave up and decided not to ride this section. There's also no place along Highway 18 to access the trail. This was quite disappointing as we wanted to ride through the Sheep Canyon to see where the old railroad trestle was. Please don't get me wrong... we LOVED the Mickelson Trail, but these two things could definitely use some improvement. You have got to ride the Mickelson Trail!
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