Bluff Country 3-Day: Root River Biking, Niagara Cave &amp; Whitewater Trails

The Root River State Trail is 60 miles of paved trail through the limestone bluff country of southeastern Minnesota — converted from the former Southern Minnesota Railroad corridor, the trail follows the Root River through valleys whose walls rise 300–400 feet on both sides in classic driftless zone topography. The driftless area of southeastern Minnesota was never covered by glaciers and retains the ancient pre-glacial valley topography that was scraped flat everywhere else in the Upper Midwest. The trail is almost entirely flat (the rail grade never exceeds 3%) with the bluffs providing dramatic vertical relief. Bicycle rental is available from Lanesboro Civic Center and from several local outfitters.

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Lunch

Sylvan Park — Lanesboro

The Sylvan Park creek walk in Lanesboro follows a spring-fed tributary of the Root River through an old-growth basswood grove in the valley bottom — a cool, shaded trail perfect for the midday heat of a summer cycling day. The park contains century-old stone footbridges, a small waterfall, and wildflower displays of trillium and wild ginger in spring. Lanesboro itself was founded in 1868 as a railroad town in the Root River valley and retains much of its late Victorian commercial architecture.

~1.5 hrs📍 See location

🍽️ Lunch~45 min

Pedal Pushers Café — Lanesboro

The quintessential Lanesboro trail institution — a breakfast and lunch café on Parkway Avenue North that has fueled cyclists on the Root River Trail since the 1990s. The cinnamon rolls, the walleye fish cake sandwich, and the homemade soups are the standards. The outdoor patio on the creek bank is the ideal post-ride lunch spot.

★ Reviews →cafe📍 Maps →

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Afternoon

Root River Trail — Whalan to Peterson Section

The 7-mile Whalan-to-Peterson section of the Root River Trail passes through some of the most dramatic bluff scenery on the trail — the river meanders through the valley floor while limestone walls rise 350 feet on both sides. The village of Whalan is known for its fresh pie shops and is technically the smallest town in Minnesota with a restaurant. The trail passes through the Isinours Junction area where the river makes a sweeping horseshoe bend and the bluffs frame the valley in three directions simultaneously.

~2.5 hrs📍 See location

Lanesboro Dam & Root River

The Lanesboro Dam on the Root River creates a small reservoir used for fishing — walleye, smallmouth bass, and rainbow trout stocked by the DNR. The pool below the dam is a designated fly-fishing-only section of the Root River, a spring-fed stream with exceptional water clarity and cold temperatures that support wild brown trout. The Root River below Lanesboro is one of the best trout streams in the Midwest.

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Evening

Commonweal Theatre Company

The Commonweal Theatre Company in Lanesboro is a professional repertory theater operating year-round in a town of 900 people — one of the most improbable and celebrated small-town theater operations in the Midwest. The company produces six productions per year in the historic Lanesboro Community Building, drawing audiences from Minneapolis, Rochester, and Iowa City. The evening performance is the defining cultural experience of a Lanesboro visit.

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Berwood Hill Inn — Lanesboro

A bluff-top bed and breakfast above the Root River valley with panoramic views of the Lanesboro valley and the surrounding limestone bluffs. The inn's gardens and wraparound porch make it the most scenic overnight in the Lanesboro area. Full country breakfast included. A convenient base for early-morning cycling before the trail fills up.

Day 2 — Harmony, MN

🚗 20 min driving📍 7 stops

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Morning

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Drive

Lanesboro, MN → Harmony, MN

20 min

Harmony Amish Community — Buggy Tours

The Harmony area has the largest Amish community in Minnesota — Old Order Amish families settled in the Root River valley in the 1970s after leaving communities in Ohio and Indiana seeking cheaper land and greater distance from tourism. The community maintains horse-drawn transportation, wood-heated homes without electricity, and traditional crafts including furniture making and quilting. Amish Country Tours in Harmony operates buggy tours through the community with Amish guides, visiting farms, a one-room schoolhouse, and a traditional woodworking shop. The most authentic Amish community experience in the Upper Midwest.

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Lunch

Niagara Cave — Harmony

Niagara Cave was discovered in 1924 when three pigs disappeared into a sinkhole and were found alive in a cave below — the farmer opened the cave for tours and it has operated continuously since 1934. The cave is 1 mile long, entirely underground, at a constant 48°F year-round. The primary attraction is the underground waterfall — a 60-foot cascade of an underground stream that fills a chamber with the sound of falling water in complete darkness before the tour lights illuminate it. Stalactites up to 6 feet long, an underground coral garden, and a fossil-studded cave floor complete the geological exhibit. Visitors keep a gemstone they can wash from the cave mud at the exit sluice.

🍽️ Lunch~1 hr

Village Square Restaurant — Harmony

The primary dining option in Harmony — American comfort food and pie in a downtown setting. The blueberry pie is made with local berries. The lunch crowd is a mix of Amish community members and visitors on the cave tour circuit.

★ Reviews →restaurant📍 Maps →

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Afternoon

Amish Quilt & Craft Shops — Harmony

The Harmony area Amish community maintains several quilt and craft shops on rural roads accessible by car or bicycle — hand-stitched quilts in traditional patterns, hand-turned wood furniture, homemade jams and preserves, and baked goods. The shops operate on an informal schedule (closed on Sundays and on church days) and purchases are typically cash-only. The quilts from Harmony's Amish community have been shown at quilt exhibitions nationally and represent some of the finest traditional American quiltwork still being produced.

Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park

Mystery Cave — part of Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park — is the longest cave in Minnesota at 13 miles. The cave is a classic karst limestone formation carved by groundwater through the Jordan Sandstone and Prairie du Chien Dolomite. Guided cave tours of two hours explore the main section with stalactites, stalagmites, cave pools, and fossil-rich limestone. The Forestville townsite in the same park preserves an 1890s town frozen in time when the railroad bypassed it — the general store, mill, hotel, and homes are interpreted by costumed guides in summer.

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Evening

🍽️ Dinner~1 hr

Old Village Hall Restaurant — Lanesboro

The most celebrated dinner restaurant in the Lanesboro/Harmony area — in the 1870 Lanesboro Village Hall, serving seasonal Minnesota cuisine with local produce, wild game, and fresh Root River trout. The dining room's exposed stone walls and tin ceilings give it the atmosphere of a genuine 19th-century Minnesota public building. Reservations essential on weekends.

★ Reviews →fine dining restaurant📍 Maps →

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Historic Scanlan House B&B — Lanesboro

An 1889 Victorian mansion on Parkway Avenue in Lanesboro with seven period-furnished rooms and one of the finest wraparound porches in southern Minnesota. The full breakfast prepares hikers and cyclists for a morning on the Root River Trail. The inn's proprietors are the authorities on Root River Trail conditions and local cycling routes.

Day 3 — Whitewater State Park, MN

🚗 3 hr driving📍 6 stops

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Morning

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Drive

Lanesboro, MN → Whitewater State Park

1 hr

Whitewater State Park — Limestone Bluff Trails

Whitewater State Park occupies a deep limestone valley carved by the Whitewater River — spring-fed streams run through the park year-round, maintaining cold water temperatures that support wild brook and rainbow trout. The park's 10 miles of hiking trails climb to Inspiration Point, a limestone bluff 400 feet above the valley floor with panoramic views of the driftless zone. The park was established in 1919 and contains some of the finest spring wildflower habitat in Minnesota — large bloodroot, hepatica, and Dutchman's breeches colonies on the north-facing slopes.

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Lunch

Continue at Inspiration Point Trail — Whitewater

Use the afternoon to explore a different trail, cool off at a swimming hole, or find a scenic spot to watch the sunset.

🍽️ Lunch~1 hr

Whitewater Café — Elba

The small café in Elba, the nearest town to Whitewater State Park, serves sandwiches and basic lunch items to hikers from the park.

★ Reviews →restaurant📍 Maps →

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Afternoon

Continue at Whitewater River — Trout Fishing & Wading

Use the afternoon to explore a different trail, cool off at a swimming hole, or find a scenic spot to watch the sunset.

Elba Lake — Canoeing

The small lakes in the Whitewater Wildlife Management Area adjacent to the state park provide flatwater paddling through the driftless valley bottomland — a landscape of sedge meadows, spring seeps, and willow thickets that supports species of rare plants found nowhere else in Minnesota. The area is a significant migratory bird stopover and birding in spring and fall migration can produce unusual sightings.

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Evening

Hot Fish Shop — Winona

A Winona institution since 1931 — the Hot Fish Shop serves Lake Superior walleye, catfish, and Mississippi River fish in a dining room that has barely changed since the Roosevelt administration. The fish fry on Friday nights draws from across southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. The walleye prepared in the house breading recipe is the gold standard of Mississippi Valley fish cookery.