Dakota Rail Regional Trail

The Dakota Rail Trail runs 28.1 miles (42.6 km) from Wayzata to Lester Prairie, Minnesota.

It is on part of the former track bed of the Hutchinson Spur of the Great Northern Railway.

The railway line helped bring wheat and raw materials from Central Minnesota to the flour mills, factories and warehouses in Minneapolis from 1885 until 2001.

The railway line, from which there are views of the countryside, was also designed to bring tourists to the communities on Lake Minnetonka in the late 1880s.

Burlington Northern sold the line to Dakota Rail in 1985, where it operated both freight and dinner trains.

As of early 2020, the trail only exists as an approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) stub from Lester Prairie.

It starts at Central Avenue and travels east to the Carver County line.

The trail starts at McLeod County line and travels east.

[4] In early 2010, Carver County began construction of the section from St. Bonifacius to Mayer.

It crosses Seton Channel on a historic rail bridge, and enters Spring Park.

Previously ending at Shaver Park, in 2020 a short extension was completed as part of the city's lakefront plaza construction, bringing the trail past the Wayzata Depot and into downtown.

In 2008, Hennepin County (Three Rivers Park District) began building the Dakota Rail Trail.