Minnesota boasts the origin of the Mississippi River and is at the northernmost end of the Great River Road. Starting at Lake Itasca, where you can wade across the river, this route follows the Great River Road all the way to the Southeast corner of Minnesota and ends in New Albin, IA. The route passes through many historic towns and cities including Bemidji, Grand Rapids, Brainerd, St. Cloud, Little Falls, Red Wing, Lake City, and of course the Twin Cities.
The Minnesota Great River Road route is broken into 3 separate legs, with an individual .gpx file for each leg. As a bonus, we have added an optional leg to this route that will take riders to the Canadian Border at International Falls.
Note: We have created 2 sets of routes for each state. 1 is for riding North to South and the other is for riding South to North. Each route is notated either N to S (for North to South) or S to N (for South to North).
Location: North Central and Southeast Minnesota
Approximate Mileage: 680 miles
Estimated Riding Time: 16.5 hours
Road Surface: Paved w/ ½ Mile of Gravel
Attractions:
- Little Falls - Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery, Minnesota Military Museum, Charles Lindbergh House and Museum
- Minneapolis - St. Anthony Falls, Fort Snelling
- International Falls - Smokey Bear Park, Big Vic Voyageur Statue
- Sartell - Sartell Veterans Park
- Bemidji - Paul Bunyan and Babe
- Champlin - Mississippi Point Park
- Shelvin - Mississippi Headwaters Center
- Park Rapids - Jacob Brower Visitor Center
- Brooklyn Park - Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park
- Brainerd - Brainerd Welcome Center
- Bena - Big Fish