Great River Ridge Trail

Yesterday went out in the afternoon on the Great River Ridge Trail. Note that you don't see much of a great ridge or a great river along here, but it is still overall a pretty nice ride. Started at the trailhead just outside of Eyota. Hopefully the city or county can get their act together in the near future and connect it to the city of Eyota.

Below is also at the trailhead, where the extension to Eyota should be.

Of course, traffic isn't generally too bad out here on Olmsted County Road 9, so getting to Eyota shouldn't give you too much trouble. Would be nice if the path went there though.

It has been a while since I was last out on this trail, and was reminded of how nice the first three miles from the County Road 9 trailhead are. The mile markers start from Plainview on the other end, so it is actually miles 10-13 as marked on the trail. Mostly shady and along the upper creek headwaters of the Whitewater River. Some close up views of herds of cows and a couple horses by the creek. About three miles along you get to the next trailhead by the village of Viola, and after that the trail heads into more open landscape, though still generally following the river. A lot less shade, until reaching a forested area near Elgin. Got off the trail in Elgin to look at the little downtown area about 8 miles from the trailhead where I started, and made what was for me an exciting discovery.

One of Rochester's best pizza places that shut down a couple years ago in their last location has reappeared in Elgin, O'Neil's Pizza Pub. Good thin cracker crust pizza, and a fine bar in its previous incarnations. Same family ownership team, chatted with them a bit and bought an ice cream cone for a buck. Unfortunately most of their reopening has been during the pandemic, so they haven't had sit down restaurant service in what is kind of a smaller space for several months. Looking forward to going back hopefully sometime soon for pizza and beer.

This time I didn't go on all the way to Plainview, just another five miles further - a storm was rolling in and I wanted to beat it back to the parking lot. That is also the least interesting part of the trail, as it mostly follows right alongside Minnesota Highway 42 and is overall pretty exposed. Apparently they want to build an extension somewhere along there to Carley State Park, which could make it a little more interesting. Most interesting thing about this trail might be the opportunity to check out the three little towns (four if you count Eyota, which is almost on the trail) along it and the pastoral landscape in between them.