Belle Creek Rest Area – Cannon Valley Trail loop from Welch

Belle Creek Rest Area – Cannon Valley Trail loop from Welch

Moderate

4.8

(7125)

8,697

riders

Belle Creek Rest Area – Cannon Valley Trail loop from Welch

02:37

56.8km

370m

Road cycling

Moderate road ride. Good fitness required. Mostly well-paved surfaces and easy to ride. The starting point of the route is right next to a parking lot.

Last updated: October 27, 2026

Tips

The surface along some of this route may not be suitable

Some segments of your route comprise a surface that may not be suitable for your chosen sport.

After 0 m for 70 m

After 56.8 km for 70 m

Waypoints

Start point

Parking

Get Directions

950 m

Welch Village

Highlight • Structure

fund to look up at the ski resort when skiing passed on your skate skis

Tip by

2.58 km

Belle Creek Rest Area

Highlight • Rest Area

An additional feature is Belle Creek, a designated trout stream.

Tip by

5.91 km

Cannon River Turtle Preserve SNA

Nature Reserve

8.79 km

Cannon River

Lake

12.4 km

Current closure on the Cannon Valley Trail

Highlight • Cycleway

They are currently working on a big section of the trail, this is where they have it closed off. But it's open from here to the Old West Main Trailhead.

Tip by

14.6 km

Nice look out over the Cannon River. This is a historic campsite. I think most of the historic remains of this have washed out into the river several years ago. They did re-build the bench, and it's still a nice rest stop.

Tip by

31.3 km

River Terrace Prairie SNA

Nature Reserve

40.8 km

One Lane Bridge

Highlight • Bridge

This was closed for a long time to vehicles, because of flooding, it's open again, fun place to bike across. Down river you can see the remains of an old bridge

Tip by

42.8 km

Cannon Valley Trail

Highlight (Segment) • Cycleway

A great bike trail. If you are only going to ride a portion of it, I recommend starting in Welch and pedaling up to Cannon Falls, then it's a gradual downhill all the way back (only like a 2 percent grade or something). The other way to Red Wing is nice in the fall, in the summer it can get pretty buggy because of all the swamp water right near the trail.

There is a brewery at both ends of the trail, and the Red Wing one makes great pizza!

Tip by

51.6 km

Cannon Valley Trail scenic overlook

Highlight • Viewpoint

This trail has several nice views out over the Cannon River.

Tip by

56.8 km

End point

Parking

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

56.2 km

601 m

< 100 m

Surfaces

36.8 km

19.9 km

141 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Weather

Today

Monday 9 November

17°C

0°C

0 %

Additional weather tips

Expect light wind and shifting conditions.

to get more detailed weather forecasts along your route

Comments

August 13, 2026,Cannon Valley Trail with new bar tape and chain

I stopped by Downtown Bikes in Northfield today to have them pop a new chain and replace the handlebar tape on my gravel bike. Decided to go with orange to keep the secondary color scheme going on my bike.

This orange is more caution orange and less burnt orange like the rest of my stuff. The guy who handled my …

June 16, 2024,TOM 2024 Day 1 Cannon Falls to Red Wing and Back

Simple out and back on the Cannon Valley Trail. One minor detour when the Cannon river overtook the trail - given the rain we were pretty lucky it was just the one short detour.