Minneapolis' Midtown Greenway Guide

Midtown Greenway Guide

The trees along  the river gorge are leafless this time of year.  Chances are good you can catch the white flash of a bald eagle perched in splendor.  West River Road north of Lake Street is the terminus of the Midtown Greenway.  The Greenway is a path dedicated to cycle and pedestrian, stroller and rollerblader, runner and wheeler running westward from the Mississippi to the Chain of Lakes and another pathway that continues to the Depot in Hopkins.  At Hopkins, about twelve miles out, pavement turns to crushed limestone path which you can follow all the way to Chaska and the Minnesota River.

If needing fortification, there is no better place to start than The Birchwood Cafe, about two block north of the Greenway and  five from the River.  High class counter service with an excellent selection of entrees, salads, baked goods and the like.  Beer and wine for a recovery stop at the end of the ride.  Outside seating on a quiet street.  Parking slots for twenty cycles. Do not miss the newer room on the south end of the place.  One way is papered with white birch. Beauty, not pretension.  In July, July only, Birchwood mounts a flat screen TV in order to show live broadcasts of the Tour De France.  My indulgence:  the ever-changing Belgian waffle with sweet, savory, egg and bacon toppings.  Do not be intimidated if you encounter the Birchwood Cafe racing team in their blue, black and white cycling gear (“kit” we say without too much affectation). They are normal humans who have the bug and the time and the money to get good at this cycle thing.

The Greenway runs along a rail corridor trench - mostly a few feet above or 15 or twenty feet below the surrounding neighborhoods.  At the west end, I see trains one in ten or twenty trips, at the east end, between the River and Minnehaha Avenue, maybe twice in the last five years. Tracks were  torn up between Minnehaha and the Kenilworth intersection just north of Lake Bde Maka Ska.  (The slavery advocate Calhoun has lost his lake and the Dakota name restored.) There are about ten street crossings to negotiate from the River to the intersection at Kenilworth and then about six more out to Hopkins.  Danger is most acute at the crossing in St. Louis Park where several roads and ramps converge.

Crossing the Hiawatha rail line and Hiawatha Avenue we mount the Martin Olav Sabo Bridge, a suspension bridge hanging gracefully from a single mast.  Its cables and mast are lit colorfully at night and you can stop anytime for a view of downtown Minneapolis - dominated by that manga-style giant scarab from outer space, U.S. Bank Stadium.  The Sabo Bridge is the only place where there is much of an incline on the route.  A dedicated bike path from the east side will take you north to the U of M, the West Bank and then to downtown and the River.

Supplies, repairs and adjustments are available.  There is a tool stand at the Greenway and Kenilworth intersection with a securely designed set of helpers including a pump and tools most frequently needed for adjustments.  You’ll ride right past Freewheel Cycle on the route- one of a small chain of shops that got its start as a coop 45 years ago  just across from where you had your Birchwood coffee.  At least one of the first cooperators still is at the Cedar Avenue location.  Others moved to the wholesale side of the business and head up Bloomington’s QBP, the biggest parts supplier in the nation. Freewheel on the Greenway is in part of the old Sears complex, which once was the largest building between Chicago and the west coast.  A few blocks south on Minnehaha is the Hub Bike Coop.  At Lyndale and Lake, an Eric’s.  At the Depot in Hopkins, you can get tubes, tires, lights, bottles, patches and other supplies.  

West of the overhead roar of 35 W , if spring ever arrives, notice the gardening done by volunteers - lovely flowers,  shrubs, landscaping and a place or two with vegetables.  

Open yourself for olfactory discoveries about the same time.  That hot oil and stir fry smell from the Vietnamese place up at Nicollet.  The middle eastern and east African mix drifting down from Karmel Mall a few blocks further along.  And when you get to Uptown, just before  Bde Maka Ska, a millennial mix of grill-smells, sunscreen and alcohol.  That almost skunk smell.  Yeah, probably marijuana.  

The intersections by the Lake can be busy - the Greenway connects to the cycle routes along Minnehaha Parkway to the South and  to the north, options for a Lake of the Isles loop and the Kenilworth trail to downtown.  Take care.

Six or seven miles of suburban cycling will dump you at Excelsior Boulevard and 169, but you can cross the streets from the Cargill office complex and head towards the huge Super Valu distribution center.  There alongside the tracks is The Depot, repurposed as a coffee shop and performance space run for and by the youth of the Hopkins area.  Coffee, sandwiches, supplies.  Sometimes church services, sometimes 12 year old girls in their “School of Rock” performances.  Often, in the summer, the busker with keyboard, floppy top hat and his never-exhausted collection of hits.

Have a coffee. Refill your bottle.  Sit under the trees. Admire the newest cycle tech.  Watch the world from a saner place.  Remount and return.  

Jay Wilkinson