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Rushford to Chatfield Ridge

Rushford to Chatfield Ridge is 27.5 miles of point-to-point riding through Fillmore County in Minnesota — Bluff Country, the Root River valley, the Mississippi bluffs and the ridge roads above them. Moving time is about 32 minutes; allow 45 with stops — a quick spin. It is scored CS-2, Easy: 31 corners, 90° of turning per mile, 1,661 feet of climbing. The roads it uses, in the order you ride them, are in the app.

Curviness
CS-2Easy · 1.13/mi
Distance
27.5 mi32 min riding
Corners
3132% sharp · Sweeping
Climbing
1,661 ft61 ft/mi · Relentless
Shape
Point-to-pointQuick spin
Roads
Backroads100% county & local
Traffic
681vehicles a day, median
Speed limit
55 mphtypically 55
Open this route in the app

About this road

Rushford and Chatfield both grew around mills and later the railroad, each tucked into a Root River valley. The connecting roads climb the intervening ridges in sustained grades that make the local relief unmistakable. Today both towns serve as trail and tourism hubs, yet the up-and-over character of the ride still feels like classic travel through this country. Comparing the enclosed valley feeling of Rushford and Chatfield with the open ridge sections between them is one of the quiet pleasures of the day. The point-to-point structure makes the topographic transition clear and purposeful. Use it as a scenic connector within a larger Root River itinerary, or as a stand-alone half-day that samples two characteristic valley communities and the upland that separates them. Clear story from Rushford to Chatfield, honest climbing, and two towns worth the effort.

How it rides

31 corners over 27.5 miles — 1.13 a mile, and 90° of turning for every mile ridden. That scores CS-2, Easy on the five-point curviness scale. 32% of those corners are sharp ones, and the road reads as sweeping.

What it climbs

The road climbs 1,661 feet in total, 61 feet per mile, between 725 and 1,248 feet — 522 feet of relief. The longest single climb is 510 feet over 3.3 miles, and the steepest grade on it is 8.0%. By Driftless standards that is relentless.

Surface, speed and traffic

Paved end to end. 100% of it is back road rather than highway. Posted speeds run to 55 mph, typically 55, measured across 84% of the route. Where traffic counts exist — 21% of the miles — the median is 681 vehicles a day, busiest at mile 27.1 with 1,876.

Where to stop

2 of the towns on this road have somewhere to stop — 2 fuel, 5 food, 1 bars.

Longest stretch without fuel: 27.4 miles. Worth knowing before you set off if your tank is small.

Listed alphabetically, and chosen by us rather than rated by anybody. The order you reach them, and the mile each one sits at, are in the app.

Worth knowing

Turn-by-turn directions and the spoken guidance are in the app. Every figure on this page is measured from the route itself — corner counts and gradients from the road geometry, elevation from the national elevation dataset, traffic from the state transport departments where counts exist.

Nearby roads