Proposed Great River Ridge Trail Extension

Elgin City Council members on May 21 gave their support to a proposed extension of the Great River Ridge Trail, a multi-use trail which now stretches from Plainview and Elgin to Viola and eventually Eyota.

The Whitewater Country Trail Loop would be a northern extension of the Blufflands State Trail System, a network of paved multi-use trails mostly used for bicycling, hiking, and in-line skating, according to the Plainview News.

The 50 mile loop would include Great River Ridge State Trail, linking at a ’T’ with the proposed and designed trail from southeast  Rochester as it leaves the Rochester city trails, to Chester Woods County Parkand into Eyota.

The total plan is to continue to Dover and St. Charles, then north to Whitewater State Park and use the existing roadway to reach Carley State Park and eventually to Plainview.