Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway

Story of the Byway

The Grand Rounds Scenic drive offers a little bit of everything: great scenery, historic sites, modern and contemporary art, outdoor recreation, and great shopping and dining, all within the heart of Minneapolis. Paved walking and biking paths follow tree-lined roadways and parks, circle the Chain of Lakes (Nokomis, Harriet, Maka Ska and Lake of the Isles), pass Minnehaha Creek, and follow the downtown riverfront along the Mississippi.

The Grand Rounds is one of the country’s longest continuous systems of public urban parkways and has been the preeminent urban parkway system for more than a century. It is also an excellent bike ride.

The Grand Rounds encompasses natural features, including lakes, creeks, woodlands, riverbanks, and wetlands, as well as constructed features, like canals, lagoons, greenways and parks, playgrounds, parkways, trails, golf courses, athletic fields, picnic grounds, gardens, and bridges.

Originally conceived by Horace W. S. Cleveland and other visionaries in the early days of the Minneapolis Park System, the Grand Rounds is a unique example of a connected park system created for the benefit of the citizens and visitors of Minneapolis.

Highlights include a wildflower garden at Theodore Wirth Park, a large rose garden at Lake Harriet and a beautiful waterfall at Minnehaha Park. The byway brings you close to Orchestra Hall, Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Walker Art Center and Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, and Guthrie Theater, one of many excellent theater companies in town. Learn about the city's history at the Mill City Museum, along the historic riverfront downtown, near the 1883 Stone Arch Bridge.

The route contains seven distinct segments: Downtown Riverfront; Chain of Lakes; Minnehaha; Mississippi River; Northeast; Victory Memorial: and Theodore Wirth.

The downtown Minneapolis riverfront is defined by contrasts. It's simultaneously home to the city's oldest structures—some still standing, others artfully preserved at the Mill Ruins Park—and some of its most striking, modern buildings like the Guthrie Theatre. To drive the full Grand Rounds route, start your trip at the intersection of West River Road and Plymouth Avenue and head south along the trail. Within minutes, you'll be driving by some of Minneapolis's most popular attractions, including the Stone Arch Bridge, St. Anthony Falls, the Mill City Museum and Gold Medal Park.

You'll know you've left the downtown segment of the Grand Rounds when you pass beneath the white I-35 bridge and start going downhill. From its relative peak in downtown Minneapolis, the elevation falls, rises and falls again as you head south. As you ride along the Mississippi River's western bank, look out across the river to see the Frank Gehry-designed Weisman Art Museum gleaming above the water.

As you arrive at Minnehaha Falls, the Grand Rounds leaves behind the grandeur of the Mississippi River for the intimate charms of Minnehaha Creek. This section of trail bobs and weaves through dense woods and takes you west to the Chain of Lakes. If you're not in a rush, stop for photos at Minnehaha Falls and Lake Nokomis along the way. And if you're really not in a rush, lock up at the falls, jump in the line at Sea Salt Eatery and enjoy a meal on their patio.

The southwest segment of the Grand Rounds winds around Minneapolis’s Chain of Lakes: Brownie Lake, Cedar Lake, Lake of the Isles, Bde Maka Ska and Lake Harriet. For the most direct route, make your way around Lake Harriet, head north to Bde Maka Ska and continue north along the western shores of Cedar Lake. Optional extensions include full loops of those three lakes, plus a spur around Lake of the Isles. Although less direct, taking a loop around Lake of the Isles presents riders with some of the most beautiful sights in all of Minneapolis.

Heading north from the Chain of Lakes, the Theodore Wirth section of the byway takes visitors into a lush, hilly urban forest. Although you're still only a few miles from downtown, this section of the trail feels worlds away from the city. Adjacent to the paved trail, mountain bikers get rad on the extensive singletrack system at Theodore Wirth Park, the largest park in Minneapolis, which also boasts ample hiking trails, golf and disc golf courses, a bird sanctuary and many other activities.

As you continue onward, the natural forest of Theo Wirth gives way to the composed uniformity of Victory Memorial Parkway. Unique among all the Grand Rounds segments, Victory Memorial is both a tree-lined bike trail and the largest war memorial in the entire Twin Cities. Along the arrow-straight trail, 568 perfectly spaced bronze markers commemorate the Hennepin County residents killed in the line of duty during World War I.

Heading east on Victory Memorial, take the 42nd Street Bridge across the Mississippi River and into trendy Northeast Minneapolis. Although Northeast is best known for its arts district and red-hot bar and restaurant scene, the parkway foregoes the trendiest parts of Northeast in favor of a scenic off-street route along the city's northern border. To explore those aspects of the neighborhood, head south on either Marshall or Central. Otherwise, follow St. Anthony Parkway until it connects with the Diagonal Trail and go south until you reach Hennepin Avenue, where a connector route of surface streets brings you back to the downtown riverfront or wherever else you'd like to explore.