Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area

Just minutes from the Twin Cities, this state recreation area preserves part of the Minnesota River Valley. The multi-use Minnesota Valley Trail parallels the Minnesota River. The section of trail from Shakopee to Chaska is paved and a natural surface trail runs from Chaska to Belle Plaine. The area is ideal for hiking, biking, cross-country skiing, horseback riding, mountain biking, and snowmobiling. The landscapes are just as diverse as the trail system and include wetlands, floodplain forest and blufftop oak savanna. Wildlife observation and birdwatching are popular activities year-round. You are surrounded by history as you travel through the Minnesota River Valley. The Dakota people gave the river its name: Mini Sota and fished, hunted, and harvested wild rice from floodplain lakes. Many place names are reminders of Dakota leaders whose villages were located along the lower Minnesota River: Black Dog, Shakopee, and Mazomani. In the early 1600s, European explorers, fur traders, and missionaries traveled the Minnesota River and by the 1860s settlers built homesteads and farmed along the river's fertile banks. As railroads replaced steamboats, many river towns became ghost towns. In the Minnesota Valley Recreation Area you can see the only remaining building from the town of St. Lawrence or visit the Jabs Farm Homestead. You can also enjoy the landscape and wildlife that has attracted people here for centuries.