Cannon Falls, MN. Fun, close to home.
Cannon Falls was the first town we chose for our off-season adventures. Camping season may be over, but we’re determined not to let fun be over!
Every time we drive to Rochester, there is one portion of the Cannon Valley Trail that curves along the river that looks gorgeous from the car. I’ve been dying to bike right there for years. I hadn’t been able to find a campground in the area that allowed us to leave the dogs alone in the camper, the only real challenge of camping with dogs, for a couple of hours so we could go for a bike ride, which meant off-season fun day was the best choice.
As soon as we parked in Cannon Valley, ready to ride, we discovered the trail was closed from mile 3 to mile 8 for bridge repairs. I guess my very specific bike ride goal will have to wait for next time. Thankfully, there was another trail nearby we were able to explore.
The trail took us to the (mostly frozen) Byllesby Dam and Lake Byllesby, through the regional park and right into a campground improvement project. This campground had lots of lake-view sites! We already decided to make this one of our first camping trips in the spring.
After cruising around, scoping out which site we want to claim, and general biking, we were ready for lunch. So we stopped at Chuggers Bar & Grill and bellied up at the bar. The owner was tending bar, so we enjoyed chatting with him and getting his recommendation for what to eat. I ordered the Philly, which was HUGE and delicious. Jamey had the Ruben, and the other half of my Philly.
Tilion Brewing
After lunch we walked over to Tilion Brewing to sample the local brews. We started with a flight to try a little bit of everything before we both decided to have a pint of the Mango Milkshake IPA. I don’t like IPAs, but this one was so, so, good! The mango flavor was very prominent, and it was sweet without being sugary. It was so good we bought two crowlers of it and one crowler of the Cocoa Stout to take to Thanksgiving.
Tilion Brewing has a great patio that overlooks the Little Cannon River and waterfall. This is a great place to spend a day enjoy beers and views. Jamey’s baseball team plays in Cannon Falls, the baseball field is almost visible from the patio, so I think next time I’ll be a supportive baseball wife from the brewery.
Across the street from the brewery is Cannon River Winery so of course we had to check it out and try some wine. I had flight of red wines, Jamey tried a couple of sweet white wines. In the end, we both left with a bottle of our favorite wine.
We enjoyed listening to the live music and sampling the wines, but knew after a few beers already we couldn’t responsibly enjoy anymore drinks.
So we hopped back on the bikes and cruised the Cannon Valley Trail in the direction it was open for another hour. We reached another closed spot and turned around to come home.
All in all, it was a great, fun day. I can’t wait to come back in the spring and enjoy the patios.
