Winona County: Trails, Mississippi River, and Culture

Winona County combines the landscape of the Mississippi River Valley with diverse trails, a distinctive history, and experiences for active travelers and those interested in culture. Anyone looking for a vacation apartment or vacation home can choose the right focus depending on whether cycling, nature observation, museums, or historic sites should shape the vacation.

Trails along the Mississippi and activities in the landscape

The Mississippi River Trail runs through Winona County. It includes scenic sections of state, regional, and local trails. The waterways of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge are also among the state and federal hiking and water trails in the county. The protected area extends for 261 river miles from Wabasha, Minnesota, to Rock Island, Illinois, protects more than 240,000 acres of Mississippi floodplain, and is visited annually for hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, and other recreational activities.

At Bluffside Park, the trail network encompasses 15 miles of multi-use trails. The bluffs offer views of the Mississippi River Valley; the trails are designated year-round for mountain biking, hiking, skiing, and snowshoeing. The Oberton Family Bike Park complements this offering with a toddler track as well as jump and drop lines for beginners through advanced riders. For a more leisurely bike ride, Lake Park has an approximately five-mile-long, flat, easily rideable paved route that circles both sections of the lake.

Other notable destinations are located on or above the Mississippi. The Flyway Trail – Winona Connector links Winona with Buffalo County in Wisconsin and crosses the Highway 54 Interstate Bridge, the John A. Latsch Historical Wagon Bridge, and an 842-foot-long railroad bridge. At Sugar Loaf, there are 38 protected climbing routes as well as a multi-use trail to the summit with sweeping views of the Mississippi River Valley. Sugar Loaf Park is also home to Winona Ice Park, an artificial ice-climbing park high above the Mississippi.

Culture, history, and unique discoveries

Winona County offers several different destinations for culture-filled vacation days. The Minnesota Marine Art Museum focuses on the enduring and historical relationship between people and water. In six galleries, it displays more than 600 works of art on a seven-acre campus along the Mississippi. The Winona County History Center is located in a historic 1915 National Guard building and is complemented by the contemporary Laird Norton Edition.

The county’s agricultural history is presented by the newest museum of the Winona County Historical Society, opened in 2017 at the Winona County Fairgrounds in St. Charles. The site includes an exhibition building, the Gainey-McCarthy Schoolhouse, the Hill sisters’ log house, and an early log barn. In Homer stands the Bunnell House, built around 1850 in the Rural Gothic or Steamboat Gothic style; it is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. A walking tour through historic downtown Winona passes through nearly a dozen blocks of houses preserved on this register. The Winona Downtown Commercial Historic District includes more than one hundred listed sites and represents Minnesota’s largest collection of Victorian commercial architecture along the Mississippi.

The digital tour “Winona’s Glorious Glass” makes it possible to visit the locations featured in it in person. Those who want to combine nature and regional history will find more than 125 acres of university grounds and nearby wooded bluffs at Winona State University’s Landscape Arboretum. Another special feature is the annual migration of tundra swans, which attracts many visitors to Winona.

Family experiences and regional highlights

The Winona County Fair has brought people together since 1858 and is categorized as an annual, family-friendly outdoor festival. Garvin Heights Vineyards provides a culinary highlight: Above Winona on the Mississippi, cold-hardy grapes are grown and made into wine on the vineyard’s own bluffside farm. The Winona Visitor Center offers brochures, maps, souvenirs, travel advice, and information about Winona.

When searching for accommodation in Winona County, it is therefore worth choosing according to the desired vacation rhythm: Trails in Bluffside Park, at Lake Park, or along the Mississippi suit active days, while museums, historic districts, and distinctive buildings offer different focal points. More destinations in the overview: Anoka, Roseau, Dodge County, Redwood County, Wadena County, Itasca County and Clearwater County. For further travel planning, Winona is also a suitable focus within Winona County.

For the overarching travel overview: Minnesota.