🌿 RelaxedWeekend · from Minneapolis, MN
Stillwater Weekend: River Town, Sculpture Park & the St. Croix
Two days along the St. Croix River combine the layered pleasures of Stillwater — Minnesota's first city, where 80 antique dealers occupy the same Victorian storefronts that logged-out lumber barons built in the 1870s — with a second day north along the river to the oldest permanent settlement in the state at Marine on St. Croix and the astonishing 107-acre open-air sculpture park at Franconia, where large-scale steel and wood installations stand against a horizon of river-bottom meadow and bluff forest. The Andiamo river cruise, a sunset dinner at the 1883 Freight House, and a night at the Water Street Inn complete a circuit through the most beautiful river valley within an hour of Minneapolis.
Day 1 — Stillwater, MNDay 2 — Marine on St. Croix & Franconia, MN
Day 1 — Stillwater, MN
Day 1 — Stillwater, MN
🚗 30 min driving📍 7 stops
🌅
Morning
🚗
Drive
Minneapolis, MN → Stillwater Historic Downtown
30 min
Stillwater Main Street Antique District
★ Reviews →The most concentrated antique shopping in the Midwest — 80+ individual dealers in Victorian-era commercial buildings along a six-block Main Street. The storefronts date to the 1870s–1880s when Stillwater was the logging capital of the upper St. Croix watershed. The town was the site of Minnesota's first territorial legislature in 1848 and was the wealthiest city in the territory by 1870. The antique trade began in the 1970s when preservationists converted the empty storefronts and has grown into a trade recognized nationally for the quality and variety of its offerings — 18th-century American furniture, Art Deco glass, Great Lakes maritime memorabilia, and early Minnesota pottery all appear regularly.
~1 hr📍 See location
🍽️
Lunch
Lowell Inn
★ Reviews →The 1927 Lowell Inn's George Washington Room is the most formally elegant dining room in the St. Croix Valley — white columns, hand-painted colonial murals of Mount Vernon's Virginia countryside, silver service, and a menu of chicken almondine and walleye that has been on the kitchen since 1930. The inn has operated continuously for nearly 100 years as a destination dining institution in a small river town.
St. Croix Riverboat Cruise
★ Reviews →The Andiamo riverboat operates narrated sightseeing and dinner cruises from the Stillwater marina on the St. Croix River — a 90-minute circuit past the limestone bluffs of both the Minnesota and Wisconsin shores. The St. Croix is a National Scenic Riverway protected by federal law from its source in Douglas County, Wisconsin, to its confluence with the Mississippi at Prescott. The river at Stillwater runs 400 feet wide between forested bluffs with minimal development visible from the water, creating one of the finest boat-tour experiences in the Upper Midwest. Seasonal May through October.
~1.5 hrs📍 See location
☀️
Afternoon
Lift Bridge Brewery
★ Reviews →The Lift Bridge taproom on the Stillwater riverfront terrace offers the best afternoon pint view in the St. Croix Valley — across the river valley toward the Wisconsin bluffs. The 1931 Stillwater Lift Bridge, now a pedestrian and cycling bridge, is visible from the taproom deck. Farm Girl Saison and Crosscut Pale Ale are the year-round standards. The brewery sources some ingredients from St. Croix Valley farms.
~1.5 hrs📍 See location
Pioneer Park
★ Reviews →The bluff-top park above downtown Stillwater provides the classic panoramic view of the St. Croix River valley — the old Lift Bridge and the new St. Croix Crossing visible simultaneously, the Wisconsin bluffs rising across the river, and on clear days the river bending north toward Marine on St. Croix. The park was established in the 1890s at the height of the logging era prosperity.
~1.5 hrs📍 See location
🌙
Evening
🍽️ Dinner~1 hr
Freight House Restaurant
The 1883 Chicago & North Western Railway freight depot converted into one of the finest riverside dining rooms in Minnesota — exposed brick walls, timber ceiling, and a back patio 20 feet from the St. Croix River bank. The prime rib and the walleye are the kitchen anchors. The deck at sunset as the Wisconsin bluffs turn orange is an exceptional setting.
2 options · tap to switch
🛏️
Water Street Inn
The 1890s Victorian boutique hotel on Stillwater's Main Street has 41 rooms, river-view corner suites, and Charlie's Bar & Grill on the ground floor. The hotel's position on the bluff above the St. Croix makes it the most atmospherically situated lodging in the city. Walking distance to all Main Street antique shops, the Lift Bridge Brewery, and the riverfront.
Day 2 — Marine on St. Croix, MN
Day 2 — Marine on St. Croix, MN
🚗 45 min driving📍 7 stops
🌅
Morning
🚗
Drive
Stillwater, MN → Marine on St. Croix, MN
15 min
Marine General Store & W.H.C. Folsom House
★ Reviews →Marine on St. Croix is the oldest permanent settlement in Minnesota — a sawmill was established here in 1839 by a group of entrepreneurs from Marine, Illinois, making it two years older than Stillwater and four years older than Minneapolis. The Marine General Store, established 1839, claims the title of oldest continuously operating general store in Minnesota. The W.H.C. Folsom House (1855), preserved by the Minnesota Historical Society, is one of the oldest intact homes in the state — William Henry Carman Folsom was a member of the first Minnesota Territorial Legislature and the house is furnished exactly as it was in the 1880s.
~1 hr📍 See location
Marine on St. Croix Village Walk
★ Reviews →The compact village of Marine on St. Croix retains its 19th-century character almost entirely — the 1870s church, the original mill site on the river, the Victorian homes on the bluff above the St. Croix, and the absence of chain commerce give Marine a quality of historical preservation rare even in the St. Croix Valley. The population is approximately 700 and the village has resisted suburban development pressure that has transformed every surrounding community.
~1 hr📍 See location
🍽️
Lunch
🍽️ Lunch~1 hr
Brookside Bar & Grill — Marine on St. Croix
The modest bar and grill in the heart of Marine on St. Croix village serves burgers, walleye sandwiches, and locally brewed beer in a setting that feels entirely unchanged from 1975. The most relaxed and authentic dining experience in the St. Croix Valley.
2 options · tap to switch
William O'Brien State Park
★ Reviews →William O'Brien State Park on the St. Croix River just south of Marine provides the most accessible river shoreline in the valley — a sandy beach, a canoe launch, and riverside trails through maple-basswood forest. The park campground sits above the St. Croix floodplain and the river views from the upper trails encompass the Wisconsin shoreline and the wooded islands midstream. Loons nest on Lake Alice within the park.
~2 hrs📍 See location
☀️
Afternoon
Franconia Sculpture Park
★ Reviews →107 acres of open river-bottom meadow and forest between Taylors Falls and Marine on St. Croix along the St. Croix River contain more than 100 large-scale sculpture installations — always free admission, always rotating as artists complete new works through the park's residency program. Pieces range from 20-foot welded steel abstractions to delicate carved wood figures to earthwork installations that respond to the prairie landscape. The park operates year-round and winter visits with snow-covered sculptures are particularly striking. The flat river-bottom landscape gives every work a dramatic horizon backdrop.
~1.5 hrs📍 See location
Osceola & St. Croix River — Wisconsin Side
★ Reviews →The short drive across the bridge to Osceola, Wisconsin, gives access to the St. Croix River from the eastern bank — Cascade Falls in Osceola drops 25 feet into a sandstone gorge a 5-minute walk from the main street. The Osceola & St. Croix Valley Railway operates historic diesel and steam excursion trains through the St. Croix River valley on summer weekends — one of the most scenic short rail excursions in the Upper Midwest.
~1.5 hrs📍 See location
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Evening
🍽️ Dinner~1 hr
Nacho Mama's Mexican Grill — Stillwater
A Stillwater Main Street institution for relaxed evening dining — good margaritas, reliable Tex-Mex plates, and outdoor patio seating in the heart of the antique district. The best casual dinner option on the return pass through Stillwater.
2 options · tap to switch
🚗
Drive
Stillwater, MN → Minneapolis, MN
30 min
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