In early October Lee and I rode the Root River Trail out of Lanesboro, MN in the southeast corner of the state. This area is known as “Bluff Country” and fully lives up to the name. The hills, valleys, and bluffs make for a scenic ride, either by bike or car. The small towns in the area also lend a certain charm that can’t be found in metropolitan areas. We spent two nights at the very nice Stone Mill Hotel & Suites, a very nice inn in an old building converted to a hotel, in Lanesboro. We stayed in the Amish Room, a charmingly decorated, comfortable room that harkened back to the early 1900’s.
The trail is a rail-trail and is, therefore, a relatively flat and easy ride. It runs 54 miles from Fountain on the west end to Houston on the east end. Lanesboro, with a population or 713, is approximately at the midway point of the trail. From the trail you can hook up with the trail that runs from Isinour Junction, approximately 5 miles west of Lanesboro, which runs from the main trail to Preston. At Preston riders can connect to the Harmony-Preston Valley State Trail, a 12-mile trail which we are told (and is listed on the map) as having relatively steep climbs in the middle portion.
After arriving on the first day Lee and I rode the main trail from Lanesboro to Fountain and back. The trail is fairly smooth with relatively few cracks in the pavement and well maintained. In fact, at one point in the ride we came upon a person driving a trail sweeper blowing the leaves off the trail, a very nice feature that showed just how seriously they take trail maintenance. We have never seen that on any other trail we have ridden.
At one point along the trail we rode through a “hallway” of rock ledges that was quite spectacular.
The trail gives you many good, open views of the river itself which is not the case in some trails that follow rivers. In several places along the trail we saw trout fishers in the middle of the river casting and reeling in their lines. The Root is a well-known trout river, as well as a canoeing, kayaking, and tubing river because of the many small rapids along its course. We also noticed narrow paved trails leading from the trail to the riverbanks and realized they must have been put there to provide access to the river—a nice touch.
Once back in Lanesboro we stored our bikes in the locked storage shed provided by our hotel, cleaned up, and walked downtown to a bar/restaurant, The High Court Pub, that we had been told by hotel staff has a weekly “trivia night” on Tuesday nights. We enjoyed a very nice meal and sat in the upper balcony watching trivia night, which had been set up in a dirt parking lot behind the pub. Large tables were set up and several groups of 8-10 local residents sat in “teams” and tried to answer the questions. Our team of 2 (Lee and me) did quite poorly but the larger teams did quite well and had a good time, helped along by the various drinks they were served. We thoroughly enjoyed watching the festivities. After dinner we returned to the inn and enjoyed an hour sitting on the back patio watching the array of stars which shown brightly due to the lack of ambient light found in urban skies.
On day two we took the trail east to Peterson and back, passing through the tiny town of Whalen, home of a well-known area pie and ice cream shop. Fortunately, for my waistline if not my taste buds, it was closed for the season. Once again the trail was smooth and gave many open views of the river and, again, we saw several people trout fishing. I spotted a man wearing a shirt with the words, “I may be 70 but I can still get it up (THE HILLS).” Funny. On our last day we shuttled our bikes to Preston and rode the trail north toward Isinour Junction. As it started to lightly rain, the trail was not as smooth as the main section, and there were wet leaves covering the trail (Lee and I don’t like wet leaves, especially with her thin-tired road bike), we decided discretion was the better part of valor. We turned back after only 4 miles and satisfied ourselves with just an 8-mile ride, which actually worked out well as the rain picked up and we had to make the 3-hr. or so drive back to the Twin Cities.
On our way home we took a short detour to one of my favorite wineries, The Four Daughters Winery, just west of Spring Valley, MN, where I attended high school (the town, not the winery). Four Daughters is a charming winery with grapes grown on the property and in sight of the building. There is a small restaurant in the building that offers light eating and, while we didn’t stay to sample the food, the aroma was wonderful.
We bought several bottles of wine, including one with my favorite name (see photo) and drove home. Another great trip.
