Top Things to do in Southeastern MN

Sorry we haven’t posted for a bit! We were kind of busy planning our wedding! But now that that’s past us we’ll give you all a 5-week recap of our Minnesota summer! And it turns out- we still can’t really travel! So, these throwbacks are perfect! Finally, back in Minnesota together, we were ready to explore and hike more of our home state. We bought an annual pass for all Minnesota State Parks to prepare. For better or worse, we were both not working due to the pandemic, so we started to make the most of our time and seek out the top things to do in Southeastern Minnesota!

Red Wing

It is a beautiful drive any time of year as you head south down highway 61 from the Twin Cities. This highway follows the edge of the mighty Mississippi River most of the way. The first town you hit is Red Wing and you’ll be charmed from the first moment your gaze hits the nostalgic downtown streets. Red Wing Brewery is here, as well as multiple other great small-town restaurants.

Welcome to Red Wing, MN!

Barn Bluff

But we were here in Red Wing to complete our first hike of the day- Barn Bluff North and South Trails. This entire trail system is situated on a bluff, resting between the town and the Mississippi River. There are two lookout points- one facing Red Wing and one facing south providing you with a phenomenal view of the river- both are worth it. This hike is relatively short though at maybe 2-2.5 miles long.

You’ll park just across from this sign!

You’ll get your heart rate up!

But worth it for the view!

You’ll park just across from this sign!

You’ll get your heart rate up!

But worth it for the view!

Frontenac State Park

Approaching midday, we next visited Frontenac State Park. This park quickly became one of our favorites along the Mississippi! It is a good-sized park with a variety of landscapes throughout. This park also has multiple beautiful bluff overlooks facing down river. We completed the ~7-mile Pleasant Valley Prairie and Lower Bluff Trail Loop to basically see the whole park. Our favorite section was easily the Lower Bluff portion as we meandered along a bluff edge on the river.

Frontenac State Park!

Hands down the best view in the park!

Part of the Lower Bluff Trail

We found a cool rock formation!

Just hanging out

Frontenac State Park!

Hands down the best view in the park!

Part of the Lower Bluff Trail

We found a cool rock formation!

Just hanging out

Lake City

The next town you’ll hit on 61 is Lake City. This is yet another fun small town with family-run restaurants dotted along the main road. It gets pretty busy here in the summer, as the town is known for being the birthplace of water-skiing. Usually we see tons of water sport action out on Lake Pepin, but this summer there was major road construction going on and it was a ghost town. We hit Papa Tronnio’s Pizza for a quick lunch and continued our trek.

View of Lake Pepin

Great River Bluffs State Park

We skipped most of the other quaint towns along the river in order to get to our last park of the day, the Great River Bluffs State Park. Located just south of Winona, this park is somewhat of a drive to reach as you have to go a bit inland first. But once there the views are gorgeous (of course). We ended up doing the ~2 mile out & back Great River Bluff Trail and were satisfied with another glimpse of the Mississippi River at the lookout.

Great River Bluffs State Park

The Mississippi River!

Great River Bluffs State Park

The Mississippi River!

Winona

We needed to keep our previous hike short as we were meeting up with my cousins to do another short hike in Winona before it got dark out! We raced back north to the fantastic city of Winona, home of two great universities, to see what they were interested in doing. Luckily, they also gave us a spot to stay the night in Winona!

A view of Winona!

Garvin Heights Foot Trail Lookout

All of us decided to tackle the Garvin Heights Foot Trail, which is about ~1 mile total up & down. It definitely still got the blood pumping. There’s a way to get to the end of the trail at Garvin Heights Lookout via car, but that’s boring. The peak gave us an awesome sight of downtown Winona with the Mississippi River surrounding it! Upon reaching the base of this bluff my cousins were done for the night, but Megan and I wanted to do one last hike to catch the sunset.

Made it to the top with some fam!

Sugar Loaf Bluff Lookout

Just down the road from Garvin Heights is the Sugar Loaf Bluff Trail. The trailhead is located behind the Edina Realty office building. This similar ~1 mile up & down trail greets you with a giant limestone monolith at the top (aka the Sugar Loaf). It is fun to explore around this pinnacle. It gives you great views of downtown Winona again, but also you can capture a sweet sunset pic with the Sugar Loaf!

Got to meet the Sugar Loaf!

Almost sunset!

Got to meet the Sugar Loaf!

Almost sunset!

Wellington’s Pub & Grill

After our successful day of hiking was done, we were starving. My cousin made the suggestion of great burgers and bar food at a reasonable price at Wellington’s Pub & Grill, and we were off! Being COVID time we simply picked up our food and brought it home, but the bar looked cool and we believe it has bowling too! 

Wellington’s Pub & Grill

Island City Brewing Co.

Just before we turned in for the night, we also visited Island City Brewing Co. in downtown Winona! Of course, just like the bar, we could only get to-go supplies. But that was okay. We grabbed some crowlers of Winona Rider (golden ale) and Java Stone Circle (schwarzbier) and thoroughly enjoyed them! The brewery space itself looked like a fun time too- but it’ll have to be next time.

Island City Brewing Co

Whitewater State Park

In the morning we set off into the Blufflands to the west to discover Whitewater State Park. And here is where we had our favorite hike of the weekend! This is an awesome park nestled into nowhere with the Whitewater River cutting through it for some classic trout fishing. We literally didn’t know it existed until this weekend. We started off on the Dakota Trail and finished up on the Chimney Rock Trail for a total of a ~5-mile loop. Top trail highlights include Coyote Point, Eagle Point, and Inspiration Point.

Whitewater State Park

Coyote Point!

Eagle Point yoga!

Crossing the river

Inspiration Point!

Whitewater State Park

Coyote Point!

Eagle Point yoga!

Crossing the river

Inspiration Point!

Nerstrand Big Woods State Park

On our way back up to the Twin Cities we said why not and visited Nerstrand Big Woods State Park as well. This is also a park in what appears to be the middle of nowhere Minnesota, but it has a very nice forest to stroll through! There are no long trails here- more so tons of shorter hikes that can be melded into one big loop. As such, we did the ~5-mile Hidden Falls, Fawn, Hope, Beaver, and White Oak Trail Loop. You get hit with a nice, small waterfall right away, and then the rest of the way is gazing up at tall trees. Now, when we say tall trees, they aren’t like Redwoods, but they are big for Minnesota! 

Nerstrand Big Woods State Park

We found a mini waterfall!

And strolled through the “big” trees too!

Nerstrand Big Woods State Park

We found a mini waterfall!

And strolled through the “big” trees too!

Afton State Park

The last hike of our journey came at Afton State Park. This is probably one of the busiest state parks in the Twin Cities. The parking lot is consistently full. Part of that might be because it is the easiest ski hill to get to in the winter and most well-known. Here we met up with some of our good friends and leisurely conquered the ~4-mile North River Trail and Prairie Loop. We snagged one great overlook shot of the St. Croix River with our group and caravanned to dinner!

That’s our crew with the St. Croix River behind us!

Pizzeria Pezzo

Most likely one of the top pizzerias in the Twin Cities, Pizzeria Pezzo is in the heart of Woodbury, conjoined with a Kowalski’s. They specialize in Chicago deep dish pizza pies and they do not miss the mark. Our group of 5 ordered a large pie to-go and maybe got 60% of the way. Every ingredient was marvelous, and I dreamt about this pizza for the next few weeks.

Yum!

We feel like this was a solid start to our exploration of Minnesota, region by region. We’ll be here for a while! And with the near future showing no signs of us returning to work for this summer, this short trip gave us just enough of an itch to take advantage of our free time to travel Minnesota! 

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