Located along the meandering Minnesota River, the Minnesota River Valley National Scenic Byway is a destination in itself. Close your eyes and imagine becoming an explorer for a day. Relax in the tranquility of Big Bluestem prairie grasses. Watch for Dakota skipper butterflies among purple coneflowers. Scan the expansive blue sky for bald eagles or wait quietly at the river’s edge to catch a glimpse of a deer at sunset.
You can also view a complete list of all the Sites Along the Byway.
- Explore fall and early winter by biking at one of the 6 state parks.
- Pack your bikes or roller blades and try the many paved trails in Mankato.
- Ride, walk, run, or rollerblade the trails in Montevideo or other byway communities.
- Take the 8 mile auto tour at Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge to see the bison and other valley wildlife and plants.
- Visit Ft Ridgely State Park near Fairfax, or one of the other 5 state parks for winter wildlife viewing.
- Watch the migration of thousands of birds through the river valley.
- Pack up your family, tent or camper and head outdoors to visit any of the six wonderful state parks.
- Camp, picnic, visit the zoo. or golf at Alexander Ramsey Park in Redwood Falls.
- Camp in tipis in Upper Sioux Agency State Park.
- Swim in the outdoor sand bottom pool at Flandrau State Park.
- Experience wonderful ethnic food at Norsefest or Oktoberfest or at other local festivals.
- Bring your gear and ice fish on Lac qui Parle Lake (a portion of Minnesota River) or on other portions of the river.
- Hunt for pheasant, duck, gees or deer on the great public land along the byway.
- Explore fall and early winter by hiking at one of the 6 state parks.
- Pack your bikes or roller blades and try the many paved trails in Mankato.
- Ride, walk, run, or rollerblade the trails in Montevideo or other byway communities.
- Cross-county ski along one of the trails near Mankato or at other parks and trails in the river valley or try your downhill skills Mount Kato in Mankato.
- Try your sled or ice skates on the winter recreation hill on 9th Street in Henderson (complete with new warming house) or at many of the other local and state parks and recreation areas. Some locations like Ft. Ridgely State Park even rent tubes for their sliding hill.
Imagine geocaching along the 287-mile length of this nationally designated Byway as you progress up (or down) the valley while you enjoy all of the natural beauty associated with the Minnesota River.
Use the Byway as a destination for your hobby and see what you discover.
What is geocaching?
Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunt that has been popular in the Minnesota State Parks for several years. This activity uses the internet and a handheld GPS (global positioning system) to get coordinates. Once you have the coordinates and clues, you search for your hidden treasures or caches. For more information on geocaching, go to: geocaching.com.
This is a great family friendly activity integrating technology and getting you outdoors exploring new places or sometimes places that you drive by regularly but just never have had a reason to stop. Your only investment to get started is a hand held GPS (check with the people in your house that hunt, hike, fish, or ones with a newer cell phone – they may have a GPS already!). Otherwise you can find a GPS unit for as little as $100 at many large discount stores, sporting goods stores or online.
What you’ll need
- A handheld GPS unit. If you don’t have your own, Flandrau and Upper Sioux Agency State Parks have loanable GPS units and can train you to use one. Call ahead to reserve.
- A small trinket to trade for other items in the cache.
- Your sense of adventure!
Register an account on geocaching.com (it’s FREE) and start your adventure today!
Interested “Cache Masters” are encouraged to discuss operating a Byway-wide program by contacting the
byway [email protected]
To assist you in getting started we put together a list of cities and zip codes you can enter in to locate caches. I bet if you enter in your own zip code you would be amazed at the caches nearby!
Browns Valley
56219
Ortonville
56278
Appleton
56208
Montevideo
56265
Granite Falls
56241
Redwood Falls
56283
Morton
56270
New Ulm
56073
St Peter
56082
Le Sueur
56058
Henderson
56044
The Minnesota DNR website has a great description on geocaching!
- Enjoy a day of golf at one of the beautiful courses along the byway.
- See Explore Minnesota for courses and contact information.
- Try your paddle at the outstanding canoeing on the Minnesota River and its many tributaries.
- Canoe the MN River or one of the tributaries (bring your own or canoe rentals available).
- Check out those after Christmas sales at local shops in New Ulm or other byway communities.
- Visit the Meander upper Minnesota River Art Crawl – a five-county area with 50 prairie artisans showcasing a wonderful variety of artwork including willow furniture,norwegian influenced pottery, rosemauling, ironwork, paintins and drawing of all sorts.
- Visit local artisans and take home a unique piece of the Minnesota River Valley culture.
- Shopping for that perfect gift? Try one of the excellent German specialty shops in New Ulm.
- Visit the Traverse de Sioux History Center in St. Peter to see the fantastic displays of Dakota and river valley pioneer artifacts, stories and memorabilia.
- Buy that perfect Christmas gift at one of the great festivals.
