The Red Cedar State Trail is a

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

which runs along the Red Cedar River in

Dunn County, Wisconsin Dunn County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 45,440. Its county seat is Menomonie. Dunn County comprises the Menomonie Micropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Eau Claire-Meno ...

. The trail runs north-south from

Wisconsin Highway 29 State Trunk Highway 29 (often called Highway 29, STH-29 or WIS 29) is a state highway running east–west across central Wisconsin. It is a major east–west corridor connecting the Twin Cities and the Chippewa Valley with Wausau ...

in Menomonie to the

Chippewa River State Trail Chippewa River State Trail is a 26-mile urban-rural rail trail in western Wisconsin that follows the path of the Chippewa River. The trails runs from the spot of the confluence of the Chippewa with the Eau Claire River, at Phoenix Park in downto ...

in Red Cedar, passing through the communities of Irvington and Downsville along the way. The northern end of the trail has a visitor center in a former railroad station where trail passes can be purchased. The

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) is a government agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin charged with conserving and managing Wisconsin's natural resources. The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board has the authority to set policy ...

opened the trail in 1982. The trail follows the route of a former

Milwaukee Road The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States, Midwest and Pacific Northwest, Northwest of the United States fr ...

railway line which was last used in 1973. It crosses eleven converted railroad bridges, including two

trestle bridge A trestle bridge is a bridge composed of a number of short spans supported by closely spaced frames. A trestle (sometimes tressel) is a rigid frame used as a support, historically a tripod used to support a stool or a pair of isosceles trian ...

References

External links

Red Cedar State Trail
from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Friends of the Red Cedar State Trail
{{coord missing, Wisconsin Protected areas of Dunn County, Wisconsin Rail trails in Wisconsin