Welcome
The Mill Towns Trail is a scenic recreational trail in southeastern Minnesota, currently partially built. When completed the trail will link existing trails: the Cannon Valley Trail from Cannon Falls to Red Wing, and the Sakatah Singing Hills Trails between Faribault and Mankato. (See the maps below.) The Mill Towns name recognizes the historic mills that were once important to the economy of this area.
Friends of the Mill Towns Trail formed in 1992. Over three decades later, we still work to support the completion of the trail.
News
More trail built in Dundas
In October the Minnesota DNR completed another mile of the Mill Towns Trail, from Dundas's Mill Park south a mile to the city limits at Co. Rd. 8, where they also built a small trailhead with parking. Thanks to all our partners, and go enjoy the trail! (Posted 13 November 2025.)
Mill Towns Trail advancing in 2025-2026
In 2025-2026 the central portion of the trail will extend in both directions, with scheduled construction north from Northfield and south within Dundas. See: "Northfield and Dundas councils move forward on Mill Towns Trail project," Northfield News, 11 February 2025. (May require payment.) Information about what is planned during this phase is also available on the City of Northfield website. (Posted 5 May 2025.)
Get our news by RSS
Really Simple Syndication is an easy way of getting news feeds on your phone or computer. Any RSS app/plugin (like Feeder) can check this file and let you know when we post new content. (Posted 5 May 2025.)
Support the Mill Towns Trail
We encourage everyone to join us, participate and make donations. Here's how you can get involved:
Become a member
Write to us (info@milltownstrail.net or Box 282, Northfield MN 55057) to ask about membership. Members receive progress reports and provide the support needed to continue to plan and publicize the trail, seek grants, and enlist wider support.
Attend a meeting
Our meetings are held about quarterly on weekday evenings at Tom's Downtown Bicycles in downtown Northfield. The more people we have at our meetings, the more good ideas we have to work with.
Make a donation
Send donations to Friends of Mill Towns Trail, Box 282, Northfield, MN 55057. Donations are vital. We have used contributions to pay planners and design engineers, to cover matching grants, and to help fund enhancements to the trail such as decorative cement blocks and the Dundas trailhead kiosk. The money our supporters provide is crucial to the success of this project.
Maps
The Minnesota DNR's map from 2023 is simple and lists the rules.
The Friends of the Mill Towns Trail's map requires a few more computer skills but lets you move around to see a lot of information.
The City of Northfield's map shows plans for the construction through Northfield scheduled for 2024-2026.
About the Mill Towns Trail
Our history
The communities along the Mill Towns Trail are bound together by the Cannon River, and by the history of the thirty mills that tapped the river's energy to found these communities. Here are a few quick guides to that history.
Mills: Here is the surprising story of how, by introducing hard-wheat milling, this small river valley triggered a wheat boom that changed the face of America. Paul R. Fossum, "Early Milling in the Cannon River Valley," Minnesota History 11.3, September 1930, pages 271-282, from JSTOR or Google.
Progress (short version): Over these many years — amid all the meetings, bills, grants, purchases, dedications, websites, reports, negotiations, conversations, fundraising, legislating, memorials, plans and contributions — many real bridges, underpasses, trailheads, and miles of trail have indeed been built. By 2026 we should have roughly 14 of about 32 miles finished, leaving two big rural gaps: from Lake Byllesby to Waterford and from Dundas to Faribault.
Progress (long version): Meg Otten, longtime volunteer for the Mill Towns Trail, prepared this timeline.
Historic structures: The Mill Towns State Trail will pass more than sixty structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Some are within the Historic Districts of downtown Faribault, Northfield and Cannon Falls.
Our partners
The Mill Towns Trail Joint Powers Board consists of representatives of the City of Faribault, the City of Dundas, the City of Northfield, and Rice County.
Goodhue County, Dakota County, and the City of Cannon Falls are key partners in creating existing and future miles of trail. Goodhue County, Cannon Falls and Red Wing also co-administer the Cannon Valley Trail, which connects to the Mill Towns Trail at Cannon Falls and runs to the Mississippi.
Carleton College is having almost 2.5 miles of trail built on its campus in 2025-2026, along the edge of the Cowling Arboretum. Many thanks to our friends at Carleton for your continued collaboration.
Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota has been a key collaborator, including with the purchase of 70 acres near Cannon Falls.
The Rotary Club of Northfield has provided generous support for this project via Friends of the Mill Towns Trail. We thank them for their partnership.
The Mill Towns Trail is a Minnesota State Trail, administered by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
We thank the many donors have contributed to the Friends of the Mill Towns Trail. Our funds are smaller than the public funding but facilitate construction by being fast and flexible. Join us and send your donation to Friends of Mill Towns Trail, Box 282, Northfield MN 55057.
Our officers
President: Meg Otten
Treasurer: Ben Playter
Secretary: David Detert
Our old website
The Internet Archive has copies of our old milltownstrail.org website from
2004 to
2018.
Contact us
Friends of the Mill Towns Trail, Box 282, Northfield MN 55057. Please send any questions, comments, corrections and suggestions to info@milltownstrail.net. Photo at Mill Park in Dundas by Deborah Rose, 11 July 2024, copyright Minnesota DNR, used by permission. Edited 15 November 2025.