Bike Trail Business Rebounds After August Flooding
Courtesy Rochester Post Bulletin

By Emily Buss and Mike Klein

When floods ravaged Rushford and other parts of southeastern Minnesota, some people thought the flood had hit all of the region.

Lanesboro saw a decline in its annual spike in tourism this time of year and plenty of cancellations.

"The flood definitely had an impact on our tourism this year," said Julie Kiehne, executive director of Lanesboro Area Chamber of Commerce. "When questions came in and cancellations were happening, we had to make sure we got it out that we were still running business as usual."

However, business did continue to run normally, including at the city's hot spot, the Root River Trail, a 42-long multiple use trail. Although parts of the trail were closed due to flooding, the people slowly but surely came back. With October being the busiest and last month the trail is open, Kiehne said there will be more people coming.

"October is typically one of our busiest months," she said. "We anticipate with the end of the season coming up that there will be a lot of people coming to enjoy the fall colors."

The trail runs through Fountain, Lanesboro, Whalan, Peterson, Rushford and Houston.

The only remaining damage on the trail is a 325-foot section that was washed out about a mile and a half northeast of Lanesboro. The section has been barricaded off.

The DNR will seek bids for the $300,000 repair project starting Oct. 2, with a goal of completing it by Nov. 15, said Craig Blommer, trails and waterways area supervisor for the DNR in Rochester.

A couple other parts of the trail were damaged in the flood and have already been repaired, Blommer said.

Blommer said he's heard that the trail has had fewer users this year. "People were under the impression that all of southeast Minnesota washed away," he said.

However, the next few weeks tend to be busy times on the trail, as people come out to see the fall colors, he said.

Article Published: 09-27-2007