"This relaxing trip is as straightforward as it gets: The entire ride is on paved paths—without road crossings—to Pine Point Regional Park on the Gateway State Trail and then over to Stillwater, Minnesota, on the Brown’s Creek State Trail. Without construction, the Gateway State Trail starts a little farther south from Wheelock Parkway off L’Orient Street by Maryland Avenue and Trout Book Nature Sanctuary. Perhaps construction will be completed by the time this book is released. When it came to deciding where to start this trail for the book, I looked at what connected best with other rides in the book. Wheelock Parkway just so happens to be a main thoroughfare in the Saint Paul Grand Round Cruise, so I decided to hop on the Gateway State Trail right off Wheelock Parkway." Read more

"A perennial local favorite since its first days in 1993, the 18-mile Gateway Trail takes riders from the buzz of St. Paul’s downtown area through dense wooded areas, parks, lakes, and wetlands, to open meadows and rural landscapes. The new Browns Creek segment adds another 6 fabulous miles to Stillwater’s charming main street." Read more

"The country setting is the charm of the northern half of the Gateway State Trail, which begins in the residential section of Lake Phalen in Saint Paul. The hike ends just north of Stillwater at Pine Point Regional Park. The “city” half of this 18.3-mile long trail joins up with other Saint Paul trail systems. It’s not until you get past the swarm of traffic at the intersection of I-694 and MN 36 in the suburbs east of Saint Paul that you really get to see the true character of this trail." Read more