Biking the Stillwater Bridge
Posted by Bikeverywhere, September 19th , 2017.
The new Stillwater Bridge across the St. Croix River has a wide, protected bike and pedestrian lane for crossing the river between Minnesota and Wisconsin. During our visit this weekend, we also discovered that the bridge is a popular destination for folks who want to get to the middle of the river to take in the scenery. The bike/ped lane has observation areas looking upriver toward Stillwater or the active boating scene on the water.
The crossing starts at a bike lane on Hwy 95 north of the bridge and runs two miles to County Rd E, nearly a mile inland from the Wisconsin bank of the St. Croix River. The bridge is accessible by bike from Stillwater and points south and west, but the layout of the roads and trails has changed considerably.
We spent Sunday afternoon logging the changes. Those changes have been added to the mobile Twin Cities Bike Map and the map has been updated on Avenza. The update is free if you have already purchased the 2017 version.
The biggest disappointment is that the Wisconsin side of the crossing drops cyclists off at County Highway E, a busy road with only 18 inches of striped shoulder. There’s a lightly traveled option to return to the old river crossing, and Highway 35 south may work as a gateway to the vast network of paved rural roads in this part of Wisconsin, but it will take some research.
