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A pleasant hike through hardwood forests and prairie near the St. Croix River.


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Map Key

9.7

Miles

15.6

KM

Point to Point

920' 280 m

High

781' 238 m

Low

445' 136 m

Up

521' 159 m

Down

2%

Avg Grade (1°)

7%

Max Grade (4°)

Dogs Leashed

Features Fall Colors · River/Creek · Wildflowers · Wildlife

The park is open year-round from 8AM to 10PM. A vehicle permit ($7/day, $35/day) is required to enter the park. A vehicle permit is also required to park at Sunrise Landing. Permits are not available at the Landing and must be obtained from the park office before going to the Landing.

Need to Know

This trail has two trailheads - a northern one at Sunrise Landing and a southern one at the park's Trail Center. The one at the Trail Center is well signed and easy to find. The unsigned northern trailhead is 0.1 mile south along paved Ferry Road from the gravel parking lot at the Sunrise River Landing Day Use Area. The bridge over the Sunrise River is how you know you've found the trailhead.

Parts of this trail may be flooded when the St. Croix River is at high water in the Spring - check the park's website for alerts and trail conditions. The section of the Sunrise Trail between the Trail Center and the Trillium Trail are groomed for skiing (and closed to hikers) in the winter. Use the northern trailhead to access the ungroomed Sunrise Trail in winter.

Description

From the Trail Center, the Sunrise Trail crosses the Amador Prairie, passes through a patch of forest, and then starts a gradual descent to the floodplain of the St. Croix River. About 3.8 miles from the Trail Center, the trail makes a brief visit to the west bank of the St. Croix before leaving the river and continuing the rest of the way to the Sunrise River through a forest of pine, hardwood, oak savanna. At 7 miles from the Trail Center, you reach a small trail shelter and a junction with the Sunrise Loop Trail. The other junction with the loop trail appears shortly before you reach the stout bridge over the Sunrise River and the northern trailhead.

Between the trail shelter and the bridge, you'll pass an interpretive sign for the never completed Arrow Line Railroad (Twin City & Lake Superior Electric Railway), which was planned as a double-tracked, electrically-powered railway on the shortest route between the Twin Cities and Duluth. Between 1907 and 1909, about 40 miles of roadbed were constructed before the railroad went bankrupt. Today's Sunrise Trail rests on parts of this old roadbed.

Contacts

Shared By:

BK Hope

Trail Ratings

  3.0 from 1 vote

#44200

Overall
  3.0 from 1 vote
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Trail Rankings

#511

in Minnesota

#44,200

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Photos

Approaching the trail shelter at the junction with the Sunrise Loop Trail.
Dec 10, 2023 near Harris, MN
On the Sunrise Trail
Dec 10, 2023 near Harris, MN
Through late Fall oak savanna on the Sunrise Trail.
Dec 10, 2023 near Harris, MN
The Sunrise River from the bridge at the northern trailhead.
Dec 10, 2023 near Harris, MN
The trail shelter on the Sunrise Trail.
Dec 10, 2023 near Harris, MN

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Nov 16, 2023
BK Hope
Sunrise Loop
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