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Whitewater Country
Whitewater Country is 28.4 miles of loop riding through Winona County in Minnesota — Bluff Country, the Root River valley, the Mississippi bluffs and the ridge roads above them. Moving time is about 36 minutes; allow 50 with stops — a quick spin. It is scored CS-3, Spirited: 39 corners, 120° of turning per mile, 1,060 feet of climbing. The roads it uses, in the order you ride them, are in the app.
- Curviness
- CS-3Spirited · 1.37/mi
- Distance
- 28.4 mi36 min riding
- Corners
- 3949% sharp · Tight
- Climbing
- 1,060 ft37 ft/mi · Rolling
- Shape
- LoopQuick spin
- Roads
- Backroads96% county & local
- Traffic
- 857vehicles a day, median
- Speed limit
- 55 mphtypically 55
About this road
The Whitewater River and Whitewater State Park protect one of the most scenic and ecologically rich valleys in Minnesota’s Bluff Country. Clear, rapid water over a rocky bed gives the stream its name; trout, wildflowers, and limestone bluffs give the park its reputation. Surrounding roads mix valley and ridge riding with moderate traffic, offering a complete sample of the local landform. A short stop at Whitewater State Park—whether for a hike or simply to stand beside the river—anchors the ride in the landscape that makes the region distinctive. The demand is honest but approachable. This loop works well as a half-day that balances physical effort with a real place to pause and look. Whitewater State Park is one of the few spots where the natural history is both protected and easily reached from the route itself—road and park in easy conversation.
How it rides
39 corners over 28.4 miles — 1.37 a mile, and 120° of turning for every mile ridden. That scores CS-3, Spirited on the five-point curviness scale. 49% of those corners are sharp ones, and the road reads as tight.
What it climbs
The road climbs 1,060 feet in total, 37 feet per mile, between 668 and 1,229 feet — 561 feet of relief. The longest single climb is 447 feet over 5.3 miles, and the steepest grade on it is 8.8%. By Driftless standards that is rolling.
Surface, speed and traffic
Paved end to end. 96% of it is back road rather than highway, the other 4% state or US route. Posted speeds run to 55 mph, typically 55, measured across 21% of the route. Where traffic counts exist — 27% of the miles — the median is 857 vehicles a day, busiest at mile 24.5 with 2,882.
Where to stop
Nothing listed on this road yet. It passes 5 places and we have nothing listed in any of them. Some of these places are a church and a grain bin rather than a village. Carry what you need, and start with a full tank.
We would rather say a road has nothing on it than fill the space with a guess — a stop that is not there is worse than no stop at all when you are thirty miles from anywhere.
- Backroads
- Loop
- Low traffic
Worth knowing
- Fuel sparse — top off before you go
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.