I had the privilege of biking 7 different bike trails in Minnesota over the course of a week. On some, like the Mesabi Trail, I merely got a taste of the biking experience. But there wasn't one I found lacking. In fact, Minnesota is one of the most progressive and bike-friendly states I've run into in the United States. There are literally hundreds of miles of paved trails and well over a thousand miles of…
Duluth - the first stop on a week long bike reconnaissance tour in Minnesota was a total surprise. I knew precisely zero about the city before I went and even had to check it's exact location - at the western most edge of Lake Superior. I discovered that Duluth is a real outdoor adventure lover's city. Check out some of the mostly outdoorsy things to do in Duluth that I discovered over a short time…
The Gateway State Trail, a converted rail bed, offers cyclists and other non-motorized users an 18 mile, mostly flat paved trail that starts in St. Paul and finishes at Pine Point Regional Park, about four miles short of the ultra-cute town of Stillwater on the border with Wisconsin. At the end of the Gateway State Trail you can hop on the Brown's Creek State Trail for four miles to finish on the banks of the St.…
The paved Mesabi Trail stretches from Grand Rapids to Ely, a distance of approximately 120 miles. It takes you through 28 mining communities with names like Taconite and Mountain Iron. The rolling landscape of hills the trail traverses is known as the Mesabi Iron Range and is home to some of the largest deposits of iron ore in the United States. The Star Tribune has called the Mesabi Trail the Best Rural Bike Trail in…