Root River Park

This is a beautiful, very well maintained park. Trails go down to the river and cliffs which is all pretty cool.

This park has well maintained trails with beautiful scenery, great areas along the river for picnics, and lots of wildlife and flowers. The loop is ~2 miles and brings you back to the small parking lot. It was not very busy at all when my wife and I went. Would be a great spot for kids and during the summer the water flow was slow enough to swim in at the deeper holes.

Update: Just as good in the winter!

Beautiful park.
The trails down the hillside off the main path are intense and not recommended for anyone that doesn't want to slide down the hillside on there butt then navigate the river back to the main park. 😉

Grassy wide well maintained path with little side trails to the lovely river. Two mile loop was gorgeous and we loved the phone to recall memories of those who have passed.

Road leading to this park is gravel. Beautiful park with all the necessary amenities. Portable toilet, picnic tables and fire pits for cooking. Handicap parking is also included here. Beautiful park for a hike. The wildflowers are beautiful in the prairie reserve. About a 20-30 minute hike down to the river with benches along the way to rest. Not a paved trail but very well maintained. Posted no dogs allowed here.

Gorgeous! Nice two mile trail with lovely views of the river, prairie, woods and bluffs. Nice small picnic area with shade trees, grills and fire pits. Good spot for kite flying.

Had a most time exploring the Root River Park yesterday. I only had an hour, I look forward to returning this winter, it's going to be beautiful there!
Peaceful and all there was to see, the limestone walls, the natural flow of the stream, clarity, mushrooms, oaks of all shades and fall stages, the tall silent pines, the last of the berries. The call of pheasants, and the belted kingfisher, listening to the chickadees and watching an eagle soar above - if for only an hour, I was transported to nature's best.

It's like a mini White Water State Park! It has a 2 mile trail going down to a trout stream with amazing cliffs and several scenic overlooks on the way down. There are several picnic tables with a couple fire pits and a grill and a handicap accessible porta-potty. I was so excited to see the grills! This and IBM park are the only two that have them in Olmsted County.

Really pretty to walk around!! We were the only ones there which was cool. It was pretty with the snow!! Saw some deer 🦌.

The definition of "hidden gem." Nice easy 2-mile walk in any season.

Bring bug spray!

Busy county park. Nice paths through meadow, woods and along river. Dogs not allowed on trail. Bathroom and picnic tables at trailhead.

Beautiful bluffs along a scenic stretch of the North branch of the Root River. Great 2 mile hike.

Good spot for a short hike through the woods. Has a river at the bottom. You can also do a full loop which is around 2 miles.

Beautiful trails
Lovely place.. I will go back again and again!

Great place to take a hike relax and enjoy the scenery

If you want to connect with nature this is the place. Vibrations are high people are scarce this time of year. The river is accessible and beautiful. Nice trails winding thru trees. Also some straight to the river and then adjacent to the river.

My favorite park near Rochester MN. Beautiful walk by the river with otters in the summer.

So pretty! It's a small, out of the way kinda place. Two miles of nice, wide grassy trails. We saw eagles, and owl of some sort and lots of little birds. We will definitely be back if we're in Rochester! :)

Beautiful spot with views of the bluffs and lovely wide trail along the Root River. A few picnic tables and a pit toilet are conveniently located next to the parking lot. Sadly, that is the only area where dogs are allowed. You are not supposed to take them on the trails.

Little known spot for a great hike close to Rochester. Never too busy. Nice little 2 mile loop, very scenic.