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The Root River State Trail goes right through
downtown Lanesboro. |
In early June we headed to
Lanesboro in southern Minnesota to celebrate Cristin's birthday. This is a unique area in Minnesota, part of the
Driftless Area, in which the most recent glaciers, which receded 10,000 years ago, did not extend ths far south. However, the melt water from the glaciers sculpted the landscape, creating steep blufflands and river valleys amid the rolling hills and fertile farm fields. Southeast Minnesota is also underlain by extensive karst bedrock. The topography combined with the underlying geology results in many springs, trout streams, sink holes, and caves. The most surprsing result, though, is there are no lakes in Fillmore County! Be sure to see our companion blog post on our visit to
Mystery Cave State Park.
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The trail stays close to the Root River or its South Branch.
This bridge crosses the confluence of those rivers. |
Lanesboro is biker's paradise as it sits near the center of a vast network of state bike trails. The
Root River Trail passes right through town. There are many miles of trout streams. Canoeing, kayaking, and tubing are also very popular.
Lanesboro is considered the bed-and-breakfast capitol of Minnesota. There are also several
campgrounds in the area, two public ones right in town.
There are a bunch of restaurants and cafes, a winery, and a very well-designed professional
theatre. We saw "
Blithe Spirit" there on Saturday evening and enjoyed it very much. As much as we liked Laneboro, don't look for a grocery store, a pharmacy, a liquor store -- you'll be out of luck!
Here is slide show with additional pictures from Lanesboro as well locations eastward along the Root River trail.
Click on the small arrow or "play" button to advance.
