Bike touring from the Twin Cities to Winona offers a little bit of everything: The unique structures of UMore Park near the Dakota County Technical College, a Buddhist Temple siting, the Cannon Valley Trail, Minnesota’s hilly and scenic Driftless Area, quiet roads along the Mississippi River, Lock and Dam #4 at Alma, Wisconsin, a houseboat village near Winona, the Minnesota Maritime Art Museum and a three hour Amtrak ride back to the Cities.

The Twin Cities to Winona mobile map is broken into three segments, each segment representing one day or 50 to 65 miles of the tour.

Day 1 gets you out of town. Highlights of the tour include the Cedar Avenue Bike Bridge, the unusual structures of Umore Park near the Dakota County Technical College and a siting of the Watt Munisotaram Cambodian Buddhist Temple.

Route selection out of town focuses on low traffic roads over faster, but busier, through routes. The country opens up to rolling hills and wide open spaces about 15 miles into the day’s ride. Approximate distance 45 miles.

Day 2 is challenging and beautiful as it rolls through the Driftless Area of SE Minnesota, but it starts out deceptively easy with a 20 mile slightly downhill roll from Cannon Falls to Red Wing on the Cannon Valley Trail. The first big hill kicks in as you leave Red Wing and the valley of the Mississippi River. Two more large climbs and fast descents follow as you roll into Lake City and climb back out of town. The roads have little traffic and generally good pavement. The scenery is a mix of woodlots, small farms, ridges and narrow valleys. Approximate distance 65 miles.

Day 3 follows the Mississippi River on the Wisconsin side, takes in Lock and Dam #4 in Alma and finishes with optional side trips to the houseboat village and the stunning Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona. You should have plenty of time to do both before catching the 7:10 pm Amtrak back to Union Station in St. Paul.

Be sure to reserve a space for your bike when you book your ticket on Amtrak. Bikes travel for $20 and don’t have to be broken down. Just remove your panniers and hand the bike to the baggage handler. The train has a limit of 6 bikes, so book early to guarantee a spot.

Twin Cities to Winona Bike Tour

I had to remove one of my favorite roads from the mobile Twin Cities Bike Map 2018 for this update. Rich Valley Road, through Apple Valley and Rosemount, was a favorite escape route and recreational ride down to the Dakota County Technical College and the unique structures and quiet roads of UMore Park.The road rolls through farmland behind the Koch Refinery. It used to be a low traffic, scenic ride that occasionally offered some amazing natural phenomenon such as an epic battle between two Bald Eagles. We watched as the two eagles, locked in battle, fell behind a ridge, possibly to the ground. Today, a blacktop manufacturing plant and a landfill generate heavy truck traffic on this narrow road with no shoulders. It is no longer safe to ride.

I spent most of an afternoon looking for alternate routes without success. The only direct route, Akron Rd, is gravel, and two large housing developments are under construction on the south end. The road will probably be paved within a year to handle the new residents. I hope the new road will come with wide shoulders or a separate bike path, making it a good alternate to Rich Valley Rd. I’ll return to the area next spring for another evaluation.

The latest update also includes a significant number of revisions based on an intense spring of research, especially in the less explored regions of the Twin Cities. If you’ve already downloaded the 2018 Twin Cities Bike Map, go back to Avenza and download the free update. If you haven’t purchased the 2018 version, I strongly recommend getting this update. I expect to continue doing extensive research this riding season and will make significant changes and updates to the mobile map throughout the year.