Danbury to St Croix Falls

Our morning started with sunshine and the promise of no rain which was nice. We left the motel in Danbury and rode towards the Gandy Dancer State Trail.  47 of our miles were on a crushed limestone former Soo Line railroad bed. The first 22 miles were beautiful. The trail crossed several streams and rivers that had great views. Between those there were lake views and nice forest miles to ride through.  We planned to have a lunch break in Frederic, WI at about mile 27. Unfortunately a few miles before Frederic a combination of recent trail work and rains made the trail very soft. It was like riding with flat tires, pulling an anchor uphill in a headwind… ok so I’m exaggerating a bit…. nonetheless it wasn’t fun. Fortunately highway 35 was right next to the trail so we hit the pavement for a few miles until we got to Frederic. We found a picnic shelter by the local historical society museum, had a great lunch and took a break. The museum was really cool as the building was the original Soo Line depot that was in that town. I met a very passionate curator who let us look around and use the bathrooms. If you’re ever in the area you should stop in and explore.

The last 20 miles of the trail were better riding, although the scenery was less spectacular. So we just put our heads down and plowed forward.  When we arrived in St Croix Falls we rode to Interstate State Park where we set up camp, showered and spent the night.

We did take a trip (using the SAG vehicle to Taylors Falls across the river in Minnesota and explored the amazing geology of the Potholes Trail at the State Park. Then hamburgers happened and we went back to camp for the night.  

The Numbers:

53 miles

861’ climbing

4 trumpeter swans fly by

1 pile of bear scat