The Cannon Valley Trail is a paved

rail trail A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corr ...

that follows the Cannon River in southeast

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. The trail follows an abandoned

Chicago Great Western Railway The Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul and the Iowa state line called the Minnesot ...

corridor for between

Cannon Falls, Minnesota Cannon Falls is a city in Goodhue County, Minnesota, Goodhue County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 4,083 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Located along U.S. Route 52 in Minnesota, U.S. Route 52, southeast of the Min ...

and

Red Wing, Minnesota Red Wing is a city in and the county seat of Goodhue County, Minnesota, United States, along the upper Mississippi River. The population was 16,547 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropo ...

. In the spring, summer, and fall months, the trail is open to hiking, biking, and inline skating. In the winter months, the trail is groomed for cross-country skiing. Points of interest on the trail include the Cannon River, wildlife management areas, a mountain-bike trail, Welch Village ski area, and the Red Wing archaeological preserve. The trail is managed by a joint powers board consisting of representatives from Cannon Falls, Red Wing and

Goodhue County, Minnesota Goodhue County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 47,582. Its county seat is Red Wing, Minnesota, Red Wing. Nearly all of Prairie Island ...

History

The railroad of

Alpheus Beede Stickney Alpheus Beede "A.B." Stickney (June 27, 1840 – August 9, 1916) was the first president of the Chicago Great Western Railway, from 1884 to 1909. Youth and education Alpheus Beede Stickney was born in Wilton, Maine, on June 27, 1840, the f ...

, the Minnesota Central Railroad Company (MCRR), built the Cannon Valley railroad out from Red Wing through Northfield to Faribault in 1882, pushing on to Mankato.History of Rice and Steele Counties, Minnesota.
United States: H. C. Cooper, Jr., 1910. There was a railroad war with the Milwaukee Road building a branch on the opposite bank. The MCRR was bought out by the

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad The original Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At ...

who in 1899 sold the trackage to Stickney's new company, the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad, that by this time had become the Chicago Great Western Railway (a railroad better known by its slight name change nine years later when Stickney had left: the

Chicago Great Western Railroad The Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, and Kansas City, Kansas, Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between Saint Paul, Minn ...

). Local private citizens purchased the railroad roadbed for a recreational trail in 1983 following the C&NWs (the successor to the CGW) decision to abandon the line. The Cannon Valley Trail contains milepost markers installed by CGW, which indicate the distance from Mankato — the railroad's original western terminus.

Related Trails

Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail

The section of the

Chicago Great Western The Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul and the Iowa state line called the Minnesota ...

from Faribault to

Mankato Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The population was 44,488 at the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Mi ...

is now the Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail.

Cannon Falls to Faribault

The section of the

between Faribault and Cannon Falls is being developed by the Mill Towns Trail Association which would result in the former route of the entire

(originally the Central Railway Company of Minnesota and later the Wisconsin, Minnesota & Pacific) from

to Red Wing being converted to trail use.

Goodhue Pioneer State Trail

In Red Wing, the trail connects to the

Goodhue Pioneer State Trail The Goodhue Pioneer State Trail is a multi-use recreational rail trail in southeastern Minnesota, USA. The of trail currently exist in two segments, separated by a gap. The northern segment is a paved trail running from Red Wing, Minnesota, ...

References

{{Authority control Protected areas of Goodhue County, Minnesota Rail trails in Minnesota Regional parks in Minnesota Chicago Great Western Railway