Minnesota River Valley Scenic Byway

Winding through the countryside between Mankato and Faribault is the 39-mile, newly paved Sakatah Singing Hills Bike Trail. The trail passes through a state park of the same name and through the village of Elysian, where a train depot serves as a wayside rest for the trail. The lakes in this area around Waterville are popular for fishing, and there are several lakeside resorts and campgrounds.

The Alliance feels the byway's roadways are not conducive for quality bicycle travel because of the variety of surface types, widths, shoulder characteristics, and high commercial vehicle use in certain areas. The roadways are, however, generally low volume roadways and many of the local roads would be quite peaceful if a traveler had a bicycle that could accommodate both gravel and paved surfaces.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation recently released state bike maps which provide roadway suitability ratings for bicycle travel; it classifies all but a very small portion of the byway's roadways as low or medium volume roads (see brochures titled Minnesota Bike Map East and West).

In addition, many communities have off-road bicycle trails and many other cities are developing trails. In 2001 the Minnesota Legislature designated a Minnesota River Valley State Trail which will assist in the development of the long range plan to have a network of trails along the entire Minnesota River.

Pedestrian walkways are located within communities, at wayside rest areas, at many of the points of interest, and in conjunction with many of the bicycle trails along the byway.