The Goodhue Pioneer State Trail is a multi-use recreational

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 ...

in southeastern

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 ...

, 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 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 ...

, to the Hay Creek section of the

Richard J. Dorer Memorial Hardwood State Forest The Richard J. Dorer Memorial Hardwood State Forest is a reserve of current and former forest in Minnesota's Driftless Area. Only of the land is state owned, with the remainder owned by private individuals and community groups, governed by ea ...

near Hay Creek Township, with an adjacent natural surface trail for horseback riding through the Hay Creek portion. The southern section is a paved trail running northward from the Zumbrota Covered Bridge Park in

Zumbrota, Minnesota Zumbrota is a city in Goodhue County, Minnesota, United States, along the North Fork of the Zumbro River. The population was 3,252 at the 2010 census. It promotes itself as "the only Zumbrota in the world." History Zumbrota was claimed as a to ...

. The trail corridor 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 ...

segment that was originally built by the Duluth, Red Wing, & Southern Railroad in 1888, and abandoned in 1964 following a derailment. The trail connects to the Cannon Valley Trail in Red Wing.

References

External links

Goodhue Pioneer State Trail

Goodhue Pioneer State Trail Master Plan
{{Minnesota hiking trails Chicago Great Western Railway Protected areas of Goodhue County, Minnesota Minnesota state trails Rail trails in Minnesota