Grand Rounds Scenic Byway
Address:c/o Explore Minnesota Tourism
121 7th Place E - Metro Square Suite 100
Saint Paul, MN 55101
Phone:888-868-7476
Web: www.byways.org/browse/byways/2243/ Description:Byway encompasses more than 50 miles of parks,
parkways, bike paths and pedestrian paths, and greenways that encircle the city
of Minneapolis and trace the Mississippi River, Minnehaha Creek, and a chain of
several lakes. Points of interest include Butler Wildflower Garden at Theodore
Wirth Park; a large rose garden at Lake Harriet; Minnehaha Park and Falls; Our
Lady of Lourdes Church, the oldest continually used church in Minneapolis; Mill
Ruins Park, with its stone arches, canals, and traces of 19th century
flourmills; and Saint Anthony Falls Heritage Trail system, which connects
several historic areas in the heart of the city. Byway passes near several museums
and cultural centers including Orchestra Hall, Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis
Institute of Arts, Walker Art Center and Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Guthrie Theater, and Mill City Museum.
Legth: 52 miles. Start/Endpoint: Byway begins in downtown Minneapolis at the
intersection of 8th Avenue and the James I Rice Memorial Parkway. It follows a
series of connecting routes that include sections of the West River Parkway and
East River Parkway, Godfrey Parkway, East Minnehaha Parkway and West Minnehaha
Parkway, East Lake Harriet Parkway and West Lake Harriet Parkway, William Barry
Parkway, East and West Lake Calhoun Parkways, West Lake of the Isles Parkway, Cedar
Lake Parkway, Theodore Wirth Parkway, Victory Memorial Parkway, Webber Parkway,
St. Anthony Parkway, Columbia Parkway, Stinson
Parkway, and Ridgeway Parkway, with the byway designation ending at the edge of
the Francis A. Gross Golf Course.
Time to Allow: 3-4 hours. Designation/Year: National Scenic Byway (1998).
See other parks in
Minnesota.