"Just remember, every time you look up at the moon, I, too, will be looking at a moon. Not the same…read moremoon, obviously, That's impossible." (Parks and Rec) Crowning the towering Sorin's Bluff in Red Wing, Memorial Park overlooks the city and provides breathtaking panoramic views of the Mississippi River and surrounding bluff country. Treat yourself to a blufftop sunrise or sunset, or to the sight of whatever moon happens to be in the sky! Memorial Park is must-see attraction for tourists in Red Wing and provides 268 acres of outdoor recreation. The park can be reached either by stairs or a quick drive up a narrow, serpentine road. Look for the WW2 M8 75 mm pack Howitzer at the entrance! UPPER QUARRY-Take a right just before you reach the top of the bluff to access the UQ. Here you will find stone picnic tables, a picnic shelter, and hiking trails. TOP OF THE BLUFF--Parking spots run adjacent to the main overlook, convenient for those with limited mobility, seniors, or small kids in their party. The looping road encircles a disc golf course, picnic tables, and an old water tower that looks like a castle. There is a cave below the main overlook, but exercise caution in the descent. LOWER QUARRY - At the end of the loop take a right to the Lower Quarry. Explore the endless hiking, biking, snowshoe, and ski trails, along with old limestone quarries, cliffs and ravines. Whether you're looking for a quick view of the city or a hike around the bluff, Memorial is the place to be. Just remember, "When life gives you lemons, you sell some of your grandma's jewelry, and go clubbing." (Parks and Rec) Or, just visit the bluff instead--it's free! *Fun Fact: the snow angel and snowmobile scenes featuring John and Ariel in Grumpy Old Men were filmed in this park.

The CVT is a rail-to-trail (the historic railroads story is interesting here too). Wheel Passes are…read morerequired on the trail ($7 daily/$30 season passes)-pedestrians, wheelchairs & strollers are exempt. Lots of nice hiking & biking on this trail along the Cannon River. The CVT extends from Cannon Falls to Red Wing, with great connections to other trails (Goodhue Pioneer Trail, Mill Towns State Trail, Cannon Falls City Trail). No pets are allowed on the trail (but I have witnessed dog walkers there).

Gorgeous trail. Ran here after work on a Wednesday and essentially had the trail to myself! The…read moreleaves have just started to change down there, and the views were really beautiful. I'd like to come back soon to try biking it, since it is a very long trail and I can only get so far running (it's a taper week so I didn't go far). So if you're a biker and are looking for a quiet, pretty trail, this seems to be the place!!

Quarry Hill Nature Center has a nice assortment of picnic tables, trails, and local animals. It…read moreeven has a small nature center within. Tip: The signage here is sorely lacking, which is why I couldn't find the paved bike trail, and ended up totally on the wrong side of the park :-( Once I discovered that I was almost hopelessly lost, I wandered aimless in the woods for close to 40 minutes before I found a trail sign that set me back on the right path. Despite the major signage problems, this is a nice place - if you can figure out where to go....

A nice condensed forest experience. The nature center is adorable and educational. The forest…read moreitself is a fun place to wander. I even had two deer that ran by me. A bit more signage would have been helpful to figure out how to go up the hill versus around the hill. I just wandered on random treaded paths until I figured it out. I found a point where you could get a skyline view of Rochester downtown.

Hay Creek Day Use Area is part of the Richard J. Doer State Forest. My daughter and I are in Red…read moreWing, MN for a few days and this place is my favorite. A trout creek (shallow during my visit) meanders for miles, and we just did some tent camping on state forest land (dispersed allowed) and wading, biking and hiking. You'll probably see deer and other gentler wildlife. It's legal to pick blackberries and nuts. :) There are some really nice paved trails for biking, and dirt trails for mountain biking. For hiking you'll find meandering paths through the woods. I read that this is one of the busier places because it's near Minneapolis (and touristy Red Wing and Mississippi River), but I didn't find it too busy, but not overly secluded either. For getting out and getting exercise and fresh air and getting into nature or escaping life for a while without having to use survival skills, this is a great place. You can download maps at the Department of Natural Resources website (do a search for "Hay Creek" - the Hay Creek area is within the Richard J. Doer State Forest area - there's limitations within the Day Use area). The Red Wing Public Library also has flyers at the entrance that has a rough outline of locations. Nearby is the paved Pioneer Goodhue Trail (paved for biking) which I believe turns into the Hay Creek trail. (Red Wing is very bike friendly.) "Hay Trail Road" is the primary point of access and is a gravel road a few miles long. 305th street and 310th street (or Recrecation Road) aren't marked (unless I missed it). Private and Public property does interrupt each other, signage is weak but exists. Fishing is allowed (we didn't fish), and there's snowmobiling paths. I do believe hunting is allowed in some spots (check the map). Someone official with papers did stop to ask if we were fishing, pleasant man, we weren't - but if you fish or hunt I'd make sure you had a license if required. (My daughter is only 13 so license is not required for her. Personally, the water was waaaay too shallow to fish where we were so the question seemed funny unless I was fishing for minnows.) Creek water was very clear. Unfortunately, I don't have a horse or an RV, but there's stables (Hay Creek Stables) that offer trail rides, and there's definitely a presence of horseback riders here. Everyone I've met around the area has been very friendly. Down the road is the Hay Creek Campground for RVs and horse owners. Very horse friendly area. I called the office, and "dispersed camping" (free camping in non-designated spots) is allowed on State Forest land but not in the Day Use Area, but parking is limited and you need a good map to see boundaries, although there are some signs that say "State Forest Land." It's not bear country, but they do list coyotes. If I had any reason to pass through here again, this would be a definitely "always stop here" place on my map. Unfortunately, it's about 900 miles from home. Oh ya, and it's free! No parking fees!! (Don't expect restrooms or porta-johns though.) Highly recommend for outdoor horseback riding, hiking, biking, and drinking coffee at the creek in the morning.

Amazing, fast, and kind service. Great prices. Had several pairs of skis that needs to be sharpened…read moreand waxed, some bindings that needed fixing. Such a GREAT place!

I bought my bike and all extra merchandise from them, spent at least $1000 in the last year in…read morethis store. Bought it all from one tech that worked there. He is gone now and the owner has taken over the selling. I get the feeling that the owner should have been a used cars salesman. He is trying to push merchandise onto me once I walk in. It is not like he is even trying to help just get rid of standing merchandise. The new tech they have are not good with customers. I mispronounced "Bontrager" and they wouldn't relent on the hazing. Having someone give you grief when I am trying to buy something from someone is not my idea of friendly service. , There are other stores, GO OUT OF TOWN if you want quality service. Personally I will never be back. buying locally is not worth the grief you get from this store.

In walks the lady looking for help in adjusting her bike fit…read more Out walks the lady who had her bike seat adjusted, handlebar extension installed, and overall fit analyzed by proficient and professional Scot. Wow! Some of the best customer service I have ever received. Smith's Bike Shop is the best.

Today Erik (Smith's Shop Owner) really went above and beyond. While on a ride, I had stopped to…read morefigure out the source of a rattle. Erik, also on a ride, sees me and stops, Despite my protests, he figures it out in 30 seconds. He then gave me input on how to fix it when I got home. Fast forward. I finish my ride and the piece has fallen off. I am back walking the trails looking for the part and I receive a call. Erik has not only found my part on the trail, he has dropped it off at my house! What a great human. I am appreciative of the midwest nice here in LaCrosse, and the amazing bike community. Thank you! Go Smiths!

Perfectly adequate experience for hiking. Definitely got the impression that this park is more…read moregeared towards winter cross-country skiing purposes. Though there is also a mountain biking path. There is both an East and a West entrance to this park. The East entrance seems to more be the main entrance with a tennis court, hockey rink, children's playground, and little free library. The West end however has a younger children's playground and a gazebo with ample picnic tables and a grill. Both ends have trash/recycling bins and a port-a-potty. No plumbed toilet facilities and no water fountains (this fact admittedly lowered my rating of the place). Trails are all pretty wide (again, to accommodate the cross-country skiers), and there are a decently number of maps posted periodically along the route to help you keep track of where you are. The outermost loop is 3.2 miles, so this would be a decent place to practice your 5k, especially if you want frequent elevation changes. I didn't find the scenery to be all that stunning compared to some other spots I've found around MN, but it was still reasonably pretty here and there. Nice large parking lots on either end.

I love this Burnsville area! Feels like I am hours away from the city. The trails here were nice…read more Took my dog around the loop. Very peaceful....

Absolutely beautiful park. Went jet skiing with my family there and had a great time. They have…read moreplenty of parking and lots of shaded seating to get a break from the sun. The beach part is just gorgeous too. Water is pretty peaceful. On a non windy day like this, it was easy to ride the jet ski around. There was a decent sized separated area to go swimming in, which sd enjoyed. I loved that there was a playground and also a small splash pad nearby. My toddler loved it. Definitely plan to be back some day to explore more of the park, as we were mainly on the water.

Came for a few hours for hiking, which was great! The kids played in the splash pad area for a few…read moreminutes, they almost didn't get to use the splash pad because we couldn't figure out how to get it running, it started going after we started walking away....other than that it is a unique design. The beach was good size but I don't recommend swimming, the water is nasty green and scummy.

We had four of us there going there today. All four of us are a little bit computer, illiterate and…read moresigning into their website to save the money on the lift ticket. Prices was absolutely the worst thing I've ever done in my life. It was so bad we packed up our year and left Welch Village left missed out on over 500 bucks today lift tickets a couple beers food They have to make the systems easier somehow

If I could rate it zero stars I would. I took my friend to Welch on 11 January 2026 to teach him…read morehow to ski. We got there at about noon and we had paid for a full day pass (totaling $90 per ticket) and he had also paid for ski rentals to learn (totaling another $45). Everything was going good up until a few hours in my ski lift ticket had fallen off of my jacket due to the flimsy plastic zip ties they give you to put the lift ticket on your jacket. instead of continuing to ski I decided to do "the right thing" and go inside to get a replacement. once inside I dealt with a rude woman at the front desk and had asked her if I could get a replacement ticket because mine fell off. Keep in mind once a ticket is purchased via Welch's website you are given a barcode to get your ticket. I had the barcode pulled up on my phone while I was asking to get a replacement ticket and the woman looked at me like I had 2 heads refusing to scan my barcode.. then asked for my name not 30 seconds later she comes back to me and says I can't get a new one without buying one or I could have my friend (who is learning how to ski) ride the chairlifts to "track it down". I've gone to Welch for over 10 years now and have never had something so ridiculous happen while I was there. Do better Welch...