Biking From Scott and Dakota Counties to Minneapolis (Bloomington, Burnsville: how much, home)

[SmoothOperator545]

Howdy, ya'll.

My fiance and I are planning to relocate to Minneapolis in a few months, and I've been looking into areas to both start out as well as eventually settle into later.

Although there's a lot in the inner ring suburbs that appeals to me, I'm also interested in the suburbs across the Minnesota River in Scott and Dakota counties.

The potential problem with that is that I absolutely love riding my bicycle to commute, but the river seems to pose a pretty significant problem in terms of getting into the Minneapolis area, assuming that's where my job takes me.

Does anyone by chance know the ways where you can (legally) cross the river over into the inner ring suburbs and what the ride is like? I know the TC area is renowned for its biking infrastructure so I'd be sort of surprised if there wasn't a fairly easy way of doing it.

[Citykid3785]

ah, yes. Speaking for Dakota county:

MN Bike Trail Navigator: Old Cedar Avenue Bridge Now Open

Essentially Cedar Ave (hwy 77) is one of the main car thoroughfares across the river. The "old cedar" bridge which was long decommissioned, recently reopened for bikes and walkers. It runs parallel to the new hwy 77 bridge. I am not an avid biker and am unaware of how much of a burden this is. So basically google "old cedar bridge bike" and you should have all you need. Hope this helps!

"Also look up MN river bottoms trail" from scott county. Once again, I know little about it, just a stone to turn over for you.

Lastly you can cross on the hwy 55/mendota bridge as well

[old fed]

seems to me i crossed over on 494. there's a fenced off/paved bike trail on one side of the freeway, south side? you pick it up just off of 13 i believe. you end up, i think, somewhere by the mn valley wildlife refuge/bloomington visitor center.

any of these rides will at times be brutal in the winter.

[slamont61]

I for one could not imagine this commute on a bike. Bad enough in traffic. Now if you're only going as far as South Bloomington, that's one thing, Minneapolis is quite seriously another.

[SmoothOperator545]

Originally Posted by slamont61

I for one could not imagine this commute on a bike. Bad enough in traffic. Now if you're only going as far as South Bloomington, that's one thing, Minneapolis is quite seriously another.

I definitely understand why you view this the way you do, and frankly I agree assuming my job is actually in Minneapolis proper and I'm located over the Minnesota river.

However, I am honest to God a fast biker who can cover a lot of ground quickly and enjoys the process, so for me personally, I'd say 10 miles is a totally realistic range for commuting by bike, at least for me. From what Goggle Maps reveals, that should mean I can easily bike into Downtown Minneapolis from anywhere in the inner ring suburbs and even possibly outside of that.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by SmoothOperator545

I definitely understand why you view this the way you do, and frankly I agree assuming my job is actually in Minneapolis proper and I'm located over the Minnesota river.

However, I am honest to God a fast biker who can cover a lot of ground quickly and enjoys the process, so for me personally, I'd say 10 miles is a totally realistic range for commuting by bike, at least for me. From what Goggle Maps reveals, that should mean I can easily bike into Downtown Minneapolis from anywhere in the inner ring suburbs and even possibly outside of that.

This is a huge biking community and commuting by bike is quite popular. I see many people doing it everyday. That said, I have never seen or heard of anyone making this particular commute and there must be a reason. It might be the serious descent into and climb out if the Minnesota River Valley. I would call one of the local bike shops, like Erik's, and see what they think before I assumed this was doable. It might be, but I think it's worth checking beyond google maps.

[slamont61]

Originally Posted by SmoothOperator545

I definitely understand why you view this the way you do, and frankly I agree assuming my job is actually in Minneapolis proper and I'm located over the Minnesota river.

However, I am honest to God a fast biker who can cover a lot of ground quickly and enjoys the process, so for me personally, I'd say 10 miles is a totally realistic range for commuting by bike, at least for me. From what Goggle Maps reveals, that should mean I can easily bike into Downtown Minneapolis from anywhere in the inner ring suburbs and even possibly outside of that.

While I don't doubt you could do this, I'm guessing it's going to be quite a bit longer in time than it seems to you now. First, I'm guessing you're used to level ground bike commuting. What you are looking at here is way different. Once you've beaten the Valley, you're still a ways off and many battles with traffic ahead.


If you're dead set on it, then best of luck. I do hope your future employer provides locker rooms and showers. You're going to need it.

[wamer27]

There's a guy in our roller hockey league (former gopher player) who only rides his bike everywhere. He lives in Burnsville and would bike to our games in Highland Park, and Hopkins. He'd have to carry all his gear (we wear minimal equipment) and sticks. He'd drink beers after, then bike home late in evening. These longer bike rides are normal to many people.

[Ursicinus]

I'll second the caution that it's not really the distance that could be the problem for the OP, but other things. I've never tried to bike across the Minnesota River so I can't really speak to choke points or anything... but I will say that you simply cannot overlook the weather aspect here in Minnesota. Tons of people bike to work all year long, but I'm not sure many of them would have a ten mile commute. The plus side is that, at least in Minneapolis, the parks department is phenomenal about keeping the dedicated bike paths clear of snow and ice. The downside is that anything along the streets will be a lot more hit-and-miss, so what may be a one hour commute one day could double (or worse) the next.

And it's definitely worth reiterating that when you open up Google Maps and look for bike routes, the Twin Cities look great (because they are), but whereas tons of the paths are bike-only (often along former RR tracks), even more are a designated portion of the regular streets, and when the snow starts falling, the bike part of the street usually becomes an afterthought (speaking from experience here, though I never had anything near the bike commute you're proposing )

[slamont61]

Not looking real good for a Burnsville Commute, Google Maps Bike Version shows 2hrs 19 for the shortest route, which crosses with 55 near the airport.


That's using Burnsville Center to Downtown Minneapolis.


2 hours shooting up from Savage.


So you just might want to be looking across the river and begin there, I believe it will be much more suitable. Just going from South Bloomington you've cut it in half or better.