55th Street, east of Hadley Avenue (southwest corner of Highway 36 and Interstate 694). Take Hadley south from Hwy 36, and immediate left (east) on 55th St. Parking lot is a short distance on 55th.
The St. Croix River Crossing Loop Trail is now open. This ride takes you there on the Gateway and Brown's Creek trails. The ride is all trails, and relatively flat. You will cross the St. Croix River twice....once on the new St. Croix River Crossing bridge, and again on the historic St. Croix Lift Bridge. The Lift Bridge was just reopened for bike and pedestrian traffic only, as of June 1. The bridge has been restored to its original condition. There are many dining and refreshment options in Stillwater. The Freight House, with a very large outside patio with a river view, is now open but requires phone reservations. See their website. An option for grabbing a take-out bite is the River Market Community Coop. They make sandwiches. There are other options along Main St.
This ride offers some mileage options, although the Ride with GPS map and cue sheet only cover the core 27 mile route. Easily add 9 miles by taking the Gateway trail out to Pine Point and back. The Gateway intersects with Brown's Creek at a rest spot marked as Duluth Junction. You could take this extention either on the way into Stillwater, or the way out. Another potential mileage extention would be to take the Gateway trail west from the starting point, to Lake Phalen and back. This extention would add 12 miles. You will know you have reached Lake Phalen when the trail crosses a water channel. There is a path that then diverts down and to the south to Lake Phalen. Naturally, you could add even more miles by riding around Lake Phalen.
Enjoy the ride!
Thanks Greg, Beautiful ride. A very enjoyable ride that I'll do again all summer
Great ride, Greg!
Nice ride! We did not do the loop because the lift bridge was closed. Joyce was so excited to see the bridge for the first time.
Thanks for setting it up, Greg!
We did 28. Sorry we did not connect for lunch. The place was down the strip and up a block. Delicious
Great ride! We loved both bridges
We enjoyed the shade on this hot day..