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Print Friendly MapClosure Notice: The Mississippi River Greenway is closed between 117th Street and the Pine Bend Trailhead due to erosion.
This Mississippi River Greenwa runs through eastern Dakota County, just outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota, running between South Saint Paul and Hastings for 27.7 miles.
Beginning in Simon’s Ravine, the northern segment of the trail follows along a levee and offers a continuous overlook view of the railroad and barge commerce on and along the Mississippi River. Curving slightly inland, the trail runs through the city of Inver Grove Heights before meandering amidst the forests and landscapes of several nature preserves. After heading first through the Katharine Ordway Natural History Study Area, the trail then winds among the wooded, 200-foot bluffs in the Pine Bend Bluff Scientific and Natural Area (one of the least-disturbed natural areas along the Mississippi River in the metro area).
The trail then winds through the bluff-top countryside northwest of Hastings before dropping down and crossing Lock and Dam No. 2 on the Mississippi River. After curving through downtown Hastings and crossing the Vermillion River, the trail reaches its southern end at C.P. Adams Park.
At its northern trailhead, the South Saint Paul section of this trail links to another paved trail heading west to Kaposia Park and beyond, called the River to River Greenway. Connections to other trails are found along the route, including links to a network of trails throughout the city of Hastings.
Restrooms, parking, and drinking water are marked on the map and are available at mutliple locations along the route, including Kaposia Landing, Simon’s Ravine Trailhead, Swing Bridge Trailhead, Pine Bend Bluffs Scientific and Natural Area (SNA), and Spring Lake Park Reserve.
Parking is available at numerous points along the trail. Please view the map for all the locations and detailed directions.
Wonderful sunny fall day. Joined the north section of the trail at 494 bridge and headed south. A number of new/repaired path areas made the ride smooth going. Great sights with leaves fallen.
Thank you so much for the clean and safe bathrooms in the Pine Bend Bluff parking lot.
I was surprised to discover at the end of the trail was brand new pavement that connected the north and south sections together. The new paved trail was wide and included a tunnel. The trail brings you into the Bison area of the park.
Thank you Dakota County leadership.
My ride ended up with delicious lunch downtown Hastings.
The day was perfect for biking and this trail made it even better. Variety of landscapes; bison preserve, farmland, woodlands and river views. Majority of trail was very smooth and clean.
This trail was very great! Your ride along the bison Prairie very private very smooth and just stunning
This was a fun ride on an overcast and humid day.The trail is wide, well marked, well maintained, and at least today, under utilized. Minorly disappointed as we felt the trail was more urban and industrial than we anticipated.
Beautiful views of the river, some nice shaded parts and some areas to pull off to see the views or read about the area. The only downside is that processing plant smells are overwhelming at times.
We went rollerblading with the kids and it was nice and smooth. Highly recommend.
I have done both sections of the trail several times. For the So. St. Paul to Pine Bend Trail End I like to start at Simon's Ravine because their are usually parking spots available. This section is a good day's ride for me and it is very interesting because of the mix of river and woods trails with fun street trails.
For the Hastings section I like to start at the Lower Spring Lake Park Reserve Trailhead. It is a huge parking lot and it is where the Hastings section starts. It is about 4 miles of beautiful trail and it runs through Schaar's Bluff. Then it is around 7 miles from there to Hastings. It is a good mix of open country, woods, and street trails. I love where the trail drops through a hillside settlement on to a levee going across the Mississippi then along the locks into the city. There are many great places to eat and drink close to the trail.
This is a beautiful trail and I can't wait for the Pine Bend section to be connected to the Lower Spring Lake Park section. That would make it world class!
I fairly level ride along the river. Can be a bit on the busy side, especially on the northern end, but still worthwhile. Some stops along the way for water and for scenic overlooks.
Lots of bluffs and river sites - plenty of sight-seeing. Flat? Not so much but well maintained.
We started at the Simon's Ravine trail head parking lot. Nice, flat asphalt trail that was perfect for our 6 and 8 year old. Cool too see barges and trains but also a lot of nature and pretty views.
South from Heritage Village Park is a stretch that has a blend of street/road/trail that has a more challenging BUT is extremely scenic area that is well worth the effort to go ride. I have been down just past the end of the trail to Mosaic industry property where the pavement turns into gravel and that is about 9.5 miles south of Heritage Village Park. I haven’t gotten all the way to Hastings yet.
This is a well-maintained trail that takes you from South St. Paul, along the Mississippi River Levy all the way south to the Inver Grove Heights/Rosemount refinery area. There are some hills and a variety of landscape. The southern portion goes through the Pine Bluffs nature preserve and then ends, where the trail will eventually connect all the way to Hastings. It’s a diverse ride that is enjoyable.
We started at the Petro Truck stop just off of Hwy 52 and 117th Street. Upon finishing our ride, we determined that there is a nice trailhead, appears to be just north of this truck stop. We used the truck stop and headed out on the trail just out of the south end of the parking lot.
Overall the trail was in great condition and well marked. The only spot that we did not see any marking was at the intersection of Cahill and Concord Boulevard. We continued north and went up into the neighborhoods of Inver Grove Heights - also a nice continuance of the trail. One of the riders in our party did head "east" along Concord down to the Swing Bridge Park. This was also a great section of trail, challenge is that you are going down hill to the river, so the return means that is UP hill from the river. Manageable but a good climb.
I will be back again to ride further into St Paul via the trail!
Fairly well maintained. Went 5 miles out of Hastings and back with our son. Goes right along the Mississippi River. Lots of birds to watch and wasn't crowded despite being a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
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