SW -

I work right next to the Minnesota River & I'm staring at it right now, as I type these words.  It certainly would be one of the LAST places I choose to canoe at this particular moment.  The last of the ice flows & some pretty darned big branches & even full-fledged trees are zooming right along in its rapid-moving brown water.  Yikes!  Could be suicidal to paddle it today!  I'm located about fifteen miles southwest of the Belle Plaine entry point you mention.  

I follow right along the Minnesota every day going to & from work, often wondering how it would be to paddle.    Somewhere along the line I grabbed a few pamphlets about paddling it & have noted the remarks & limits concerning eating any fish caught in it.  MANY of my employees catch & eat those fish REGULARLY.  Of course, that may explain a few things about their behaviors, sometimes.

You're quite right about the river & the valley that holds it.  I sincerely hope more efforts are made to clean up some of the pollutants you have identified.  I think I'll give it a couple more months before I try paddling it, though.  The way its looking just now, I could probably reach Belle Plaine in 2-3 hours... IF I didn't get run over by icebergs first!

Jimbo  

SW

Thanks for the reply.  When the water goes down I would like to give it a try.  Any idea how long it would take to paddle Belle Plaine to Shakopee?

The guy that took me on my first BWCA trip used to fish the MN for Flatheads down by St. Peter.  I want to say he caught a couple in the 40lb category - I could be wrong, but I saw the pictures and they were huge. 

Jimbo, where the heck do you work?  How long of a commute do you have?

If you are looking for  Q/BWCA experience Bigfrok & Little Fork rivers

St. Croix from Danbury down to highway 70 is great, use WI side for access

lower St. Croix has much more traffic and state parks if you are into that

Rum, Snake & Kettle are more day trip types, although upper Snake can be nice for camping, there is a county campground along it

Root & Cannon I also consider day trips

Since I am faily new to this site, I am still reading old entries and I thought I would revive this thread. We are always looking for good places to paddle that close to home and are short and cheap.

My  2 cents worth on other places to paddle in MN.

Cloquet River

I take each of my  kids on a 8th grade graduation trip for 4 days down the Cloquet river from Brimson to Hwy 2 on the St. Louis. It is 75 miles of the nicest river paddling in the state. I am planning my youngest's trip for Memorial weekend 2009. I have been on this river with kids and friends 7 times and have never even seen another canoe, even on busy weekends. The water is clean, the rapids are fun, and  the scenery is just like further north. There is a 40 mile stretch that has no bridges, so  there is a nice wilderness feel to it. There are also some cabins along the way as well. The shuttle is a major pain, 3 hours, but it is worth it.
I use it as an introduction to  white water paddling for my kids and friends. The bigger rapids have portages around them and the rest of the river is just nice riffles and flat water. Very fun for the kids. Good fishing as well. Island lake resevoir has a lot of cabins and boats on it, and the wind can be a bear, but overall, the trips is well worth it.

Little Fork River.

When my kids graduate from High School I take them on a more difficult white water trip down the Little Fork River. It has always been a great experience for the kids learning to read water, get wet, and be challenged in a remote wilderness environment. If you want to feel like you are off the beaten path the Little Fork from Cook to the 2nd Hwy 65 bridge is a great trip. The DNR has a web site that you can check water levels on and when the gauge at the Town of Little Fork is around 5 that is the best time to go. The river is not as scenic as the Cloquet, but it has it's own appeal. It also has a 40 mile stretch with no bridges and it is much more remote feeling. We have seen Timber Wolves on  this river,  as well as  bears, and  deer and all the usual small stuff. The sturgeon in the spring, around Memorial weekend are worth the trip. Some real monsters to see spawning in the rapids. Water clarity is very poor due to the clay that the river flows through and the clay banks can be nasty to try to land on. Overall, if you like river travel and some white water, this river is a blast. The rapids all have portages around them except the water falls ??? The DNR has not secured land around the falls for a portage and it is posted, but what are you  going to do?
We just hustle across and try to be as careful as we can of the place.
The shuttle for this trip is also a three hour deal, but again, it is just part of the price to pay to  be out on the  water.

I have a lot of notes and maps, if anyone is interested in more details of either of these rivers. Every time I am on one of them, I comment that it is just like being in the BW or Q except for the cabins, but NO people.

GeneM

As long as it's back from the dead....jimbo....I want to see a trip report of your Minn river paddle this last summer.

I'm musing about a Little Missouri 4-5 day padle this spring....same problems as Gene M discussed....muddy banks, and clay soil.