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Languid in Lanesboro

In summer, head for lovely Lanesboro and go with the flow.

For a hamlet out in nowhere, Lanesboro is picturesquely blessed.

It’s hemmed in by tall limestone bluffs, circled by a spring-fed trout stream and bisected by one of the nation’s best bicycle trails. Eagles, herons and egrets cruise along the scenic river just to the north, alongside canoeists and kayakers.

Nineteenth-century brick storefronts line downtown, which won a Great American Main Street award from the National Trust for Historical Preservation in 1998; Lanesboro still is the only Minnesota town that has earned the honor.

There are no franchises, and farmers still shop in town; in fact, the aroma of manure still hangs over downtown on Fridays, when the weekly livestock auction is held. There’s an endearing ma-and-pa feel to the town’s businesses, and the throngs of tourists easily mix with locals as well as Amish peddlers, artisans and actors from the town’s professional theater.

The town is so successful that bicycle trails have become holy grails for towns all over Minnesota, each hoping to become the next Lanesboro. Its professional theater has a new building and draws patrons from across the region. National magazines have proclaimed it a great getaway.

But Mother Nature can throw it for a loop. Floods in 2000 and 2001 kept paddlers off the Root River and closed parts of the Root River State Trail; in 2002, an arsonist torched three buildings downtown and some tourists thought the whole town had burned down.

In August 2007, towns downstream were hit hard by floods after a torrential rainfall. Lanesboro was largely unaffected, and most of the Root River State Trail recovered for the fall-color season, but many tourists stayed away.

And even in an ordinary year, businesses suffer when spring is slow to arrive.

One year, my niece Livi and I went on the first nice weekend of June, throwing off the effects of a raw spring. Draped over inner tubes on the Root River, nearly somnolent in the hot sun, we marveled at the scenery, the serenity and a perfect confluence of river conditions: fast water, great weather and a stiff tail wind.

“And no people!’’ Livi said, then added in mock indignation: “What’s wrong with those people?’’

On a summer’s day, few places make a better escape than Lanesboro and its river.

On our first day, Livi and I rented a canoe. Putting in at the Moen’s Bridge access on the North Branch of the Root, we glided past solid limestone bluffs, bouncing through riffles and rapids every mile or so. Cliff swallows and warblers made swooping arcs around us, and a great blue heron became our scout, accompanying us for miles by flapping ahead, waiting until we caught up and finally passing us off to a smaller heron.

We paddled around the ruins of an old dam, then approached an especially tall bluff, where we saw the high-ropes course of Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center poking out of the treetops. An abandoned 1915 power plant clung to the base of the bluff, a ladder reaching from the river into an empty concrete doorway, and on the other bank we saw a bald eagle sitting in the lowest branch of a tree, its haughty pale-yellow eyes gazing in every direction except at us.

We also saw ducks, geese, cows and a deer, but no people until Mile 12, where the North Branch joins the South Branch and the bicycle trail three miles above Lanesboro. In another four miles we were at Whalan, trying to avoid the industrial-strength mud at the takeout.

And we still weren’t finished with the river. After returning the paddles and life jackets, we set off to ride the Root River State Trail’s easternmost section. Livi started in Rushford and I set out from Houston's Nature Center, gliding down to the river and into forest that lined pancake-flat valley floors, which, with the peaked hills surrounding them, mark the beginning of the coulee country that stretches into southwest Wisconsin.

It was a wild, exhilarating ride — not being on a former rail corridor, it’s definitely not flat — and its easternmost scenery rivals the stretch from Isinours Junction to Preston, on the other end of the trail. It’s a great addition to the 60-mile system, which includes the 18-mile Harmony-Preston Valley State Trail.

The next morning, we were back along the Root River, this time on in-line skates. We headed west from the downtown trestle bridge, under which two Amish teen-agers were fishing, and soon were cruising along a quiet corridor lined by Queen Anne’s lace. Then, having worked up a sweat, we rented tubes from Root River Outfitters and plopped into the river behind the shop, just below the 1868 dam.

The water turned our backsides into Popsicles — the South Branch is spring-fed and much colder than the North Branch — and we wondered what we’d let ourselves in for. But the a series of rapids grabbed us — just like the Valleyfair flume ride, except with real rocks — and before we knew it, we’d floated into the warmer waters of the North Branch, where we leaned back, wiggled our toes and looked pityingly at the bicyclists above, sweating in their helmets and shoes.

While we were in Lanesboro, we also saw a play, browsed at Cornucopia Art Center and bought perennials from the Amish at the Saturday farmers market in Sylvan Park. But we knew it would be the cool Root River of which we'd dream later in the summer, as we sweltered in the heat.

“When I’m sitting in my office thinking of something to look forward to,’’ said Livi, lolling on her tube, “this will be it.’’

Trip Tips: Lanesboro

2008 events: May 2-4, Ibsen Fest. May 17, Stand Still Parade in Whalan. June 7, Rhubarb Festival. June 15, Art in the Park. Aug. 2-3, Buffalo Bill Days. Oct. 4, Fall Fest.

Accommodations: Lanesboro has many fine inns and B&Bs, and the town's web site has an availability search.

One of the largest and best-located inns is the Cottage House, a modern inn with a large covered porch across from the Commonweal Theatre; 14 simple but attractive rooms, seven with two beds. 800-944-0099, www.cottagehouseinn.com.

Stone Mill Suites is in an 1895 limestone building at the end of Parkway Avenue,  866-897-8663, www.stonemillsuites.com.

On the south end of town, Green Gables Inn has 15 rooms, 800-818-4225.

Camping: Sites at Lanesboro’s Sylvan Park, on the river, are first-come, first-served. Sixty tent sites are $10 and 43 camper sites $25. Hot showers are in the adjoining community center.

Dining: The Old Village Hall is the longtime standby and a nice place for dinner, especially on its deck, 507-467-2962, www.oldvillagehall.com. The Vintage is a flashy newcomer next to the Commonweal Theatre, 888-868-8941, www.vintageinlanesboro.com.

Also next to the theater, the Lanesboro Pastry Shoppe serves breakfast and lunch. For lunch to go, stop by the River Trail Picnic Basket.

Canoeing: Rainfall speeds up the Root River considerably, but in general, the 16-mile North Branch trip from Moen’s Landing to Whalan takes 4 to 4½ hours. Outfitters often recommend the slower 14-mile South Branch stretch from Preston to Lanesboro if the North Branch is too high; the 16 miles between Whalan and Rushford also are an option. For a route map, call the DNR at 800-766-6000 or 651-296-6157; the Lanesboro visitors center also stocks them.

Tubing: The South Branch of the Root River carves a shady one-mile loop around downtown Lanesboro that takes about 45 minutes on a tube; people can get in below the dam, out at the County Road 250 bridge and walk back with their tubes on the state trail to do it again. Or they can tube to the Minnesota 16 access, 2½-hours, or Whalan, about five hours.

Bicycling: The 42-mile Root River State Trail and 18-mile Harmony-Preston Valley State Trail, which connects to the Root five miles west of Lanesboro, are Minnesota’s pride and joy. Besides the big hill five miles west of Houston, the only hills are up to Harmony and Fountain; many bicyclists like to take shuttles and start from there.

Rentals and shuttle: Outfitters include the Little River General Store on Coffee Street, 800-994-2943, www.lrgeneralstore.net, and Root River Outfitters,  next to the downtown Lanesboro trestle bridge and at Old Barn Resort, 507-467-3400, www.rootriveroutfitters.com.

Nightlife: The live radio show "Over the Back Fence'' is broadcast at 7 p.m. Sundays from Memorial Day through Labor Day weekends at the St. Mane Theater.

Theater: In 2008, the Commonweal Theatre is performing "Harvey'' in repertory with "Man of La Mancha'' Thursdays through Mondays until Oct. 25. Tickets are $25, 800-657-7025, www.commonwealtheatre.org.

Information: 800-944-2670, www.lanesboro.com.

Last updated on July 14, 2008