The much-anticipated Brown's Creek State Trail, years in the making in Washington County, was declared officially open Thursday as runners and hikers took to its new paved surface.
"With the nice weather we've been having, many people may still be able to get out this fall for a walk or a bike ride" on the trail, said Erika Rivers, director of the Parks and Trails Division of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
The 6-mile trail links Stillwater to the Gateway State Trail, the most used trail in Minnesota. It runs from St. Paul to northern Washington County.
The Brown's Creek trail, some of which parallels a creek of the same name, follows a route that the Minnesota Zephyr dinner train used for 23 years. The DNR has predicted that the Brown's Creek Trail will draw 75,000 people each year.
The Brown's Creek trailhead at the former Zephyr depot on N. Main Street in Stillwater will link with a city trail, now under construction, that will follow an abandoned rail line south to the Lift Bridge.
Once a new four-lane bridge crossing the St. Croix River at Oak Park Heights is completed in late 2016, a loop trail will be built to cross the Lift Bridge into St. Joseph Township on the Wisconsin side of the river, and return to Stillwater over the new bridge.
The DNR and Washington County purchased the Zephyr land from owner David Paradeau for $4.25 million. The county contributed $1 million of that amount from voter-approved Land and Water Legacy funds.
Last spring, a Brown's Creek trail bridge was built over busy Manning Avenue, which state and county leaders considered a necessity to prevent accidents. It didn't seem prudent to open a portion of the trail if pedestrians and cyclists couldn't safety cross Manning, said Kent Skaar, a DNR acquisition and development section leader.
