Rosemount Interpretive Trail Corridor

The Rosemount Interpretive Trail integrates a recreational trail within a functioning wildlife corridor. Download the full map below.

During a three-year process, the City of Rosemount worked with FMR and landscape design firm Hoisington Koegler Group, Inc. (HKG) to develop concept-level plans for an interpretive trail corridor that will provide city residents with a connection to the Mississippi and that will tell the story of Pine Bend and the River. The trail corridor will begin in downtown Rosemount and connect city trails to the future Mississippi Regional Bike Trail and hiking trails planned for Spring Lake Park.

FMR and HKG met with city staff and local landowners to identify and map a trail corridor alignment that could maximize scenic, restoration, greenway and interpretive opportunities. The alignment was selected based on physical topography, existing infrastructure and anticipated future land uses. An effort was made to align the trail with ridges, small wetlands and other natural features that were identified in the Mississippi River Greenway Strategic Plan, in order provide scenic and interpretive opportunities along the trail. FMR staff added refinements to the corridor based on ecological criteria and local greenway plans and created a supporting map that highlighted natural features and included a 300-foot wide trail corridor outside of developed areas that could support wildlife habitat and migration.

Gathering input from landowners along the proposed trail corridor was an important part of the plan. Tom Lewanski, FMRs conservation director, along with Dan Schultz and Tom Shuster of Rosemounts parks and recreation department, met face to face with representatives of the industrial landowners along the trail route to inform them about the project and the proposed route, and to solicit questions, comments, and concerns. Landowners were also invited to a stakeholder review session and although the trail corridor concept was generally well received, some landowners expressed concerns about the corridor width recommended for ecological functions and the economic impacts that could have on residential development.

HKG identified a series of character zones for the trail corridor that begin with the downtown area and traverse through developed and developing areas, farmland and natural areas, industrial properties, and the river bluff. For each character zone, interpretive stops that focus on the changing landscape and the communitys connection to the river were developed and depicted on poster boards with graphics and proposed topics. A second map developed by FMR highlighted priority natural areas along the trail, with a summary of opportunities to implement protected greenway corridors and ecological restoration.

The trail corridor plan was presented to 20 people at an open house in November 2005, and formally approved by the Rosemount City Council in February 2006.

For more information, contact Irene Jones at Friends of the Mississippi River at 651-222-2193 x11 or through our contact form, or Dan Schultz, Director of Rosemount Parks and Recreation at 651-322-6012.

See the plan