Barn Bluff Trail Hike - Red Wing, Minnesota - The Brutally Honest Traveler

Featuring beautiful views of Lake Pepin and the city of Red Wing, Minnesota, the He Mni Can / Barn Bluff trail is one of the most popular hikes in Southern Minnesota. The summit of the Barn Bluff trail takes hikers up to 340 feet at the top, and while it’s not a mountain, it still provides good views for a midwest hike! Though there are a few different trails stemming from the Barn Bluff trailhead, the best way to reach the summit is via the South trail. For this guide, I’ll be mainly focusing on the South trail at Barn Bluff, so let’s begin!

Great views from the top of Barn Bluff in Redwing, Minnesota

Where is the Barn Bluff trailhead?

You’ll find the parking for the Barn Bluff trailhead right off of US Highway 63 in Red Wing, Minnesota. If you’re visiting downtown Red Wing, you’ll be able to see the bluff from downtown, but finding the trailhead can be a little confusing, so it’s best to plug it into Google Maps.

From the Twin Cities Metro area, this trail is about an hour south.

Barn Bluff Hike – Quick Stats

Trail length: 2 miles
Elevation gain: 340 feet
Type: Out and back
Difficulty: Easy, as long as you’re okay with stairs, as there’s a long staircase along the way.

Sign for the Barn Bluff trailhead, an overlook of the city and the Mississippi River

Hiking to Barn Bluff

At the trailhead, you’ll find plenty of parking. I did this hike on a beautiful Saturday in late May in the afternoon – a prime time for hiking – and I easily found a spot. From the parking lot, simply walk across the street to the trail. You’ll see a large “Barn Bluff” sign, as well as a newly-installed map of the trail system.

View a map of the trails here.

I took the South route, so that’s what this blog post will be focused on but there are a few other routes here you can take. The South route is the fastest and safest way to reach the top.

The North Trail has had some hiker fatalities in the past, so if you attempt this hike, please be careful.

The trail starts out through the trees on a dirt path, with a small incline – you hardly notice that you’re going up. I will say that I hiked this trail on a whim – I didn’t set out to do this hike when I was in the area, so I wasn’t wearing proper shoes. I hiked this in a pair of worn out Skechers from Costco – I was fine, but ideally, you should at least be wearing tennis shoes!

Dirt hiking trail in Red Wing Minnesota, at the Barn Bluff hiking area. Trail is surrounded by green vegetation and trees

After about a half mile of trekking through the trees, you’ll come upon the famous Kiwanis Stairs – everyone who hikes up to Barn Bluff always talks about these stairs – and for a good reason. There’s a LOT of them! These stairs seem to go on forever.

Kiwanis Stairway, with names imprinted into the steps along the Barn Bluff trail

After the stairs, you’re close to the top. Just keep following the well-marked trail. Eventually, you’ll get to a junction where you can chose to visit the east or the west viewpoint.

I ended up doing both and liked them both equally. I recommend that you take time to see both overlooks, as you’ll see different scenery.

As you walk along the top of the bluff, you will see many small dirt paths that look like trails – but they’re not. These are run-off areas from rainfall. There are lots of signs at the top that indicate that what you’re seeing is not a trail and to stay off.

Sign warns hikers of a danger of falling, not an approved trail, to stay out of area

Taking a left at the junction will lead you to the west side viewpoint. The west side provides you with views of the Highway 63 bridge crossing the Mississippi / Lake Pepin, and downtown Red Wing.

Cityscape view of Red Wing Minnesota, featuring the Mississippi River on a spring day. As seen from Barn Bluff hike

US Highway 63 bridge, crossing the Mississippi River

Beautiful view of the Mississippi River as seen from Red Wing Minnesota from the Barn Bluff hiking trail

To get to the east side, follow the Prairie trail once at the top of the bluff. The east side has a different view, seeing more of Lake Pepin, an NSP power plant and a residential area of town.

View of a residential neighborhood in Red Wing Minnesota during the spring.

Once you’ve had your fill of the view, just head back down the way you came.

Carlson Lime Kiln

Once you’re back at the trailhead, you can take a very short walk to see an old kiln (it’s only .3 miles round trip). There’s nothing else to see, other than an old abandoned lime kiln. This was in use from 1870 to 1908, burning raw limestone from the Barn Bluff area, into commercial limestone.

Barn Bluff Hike in Red Wing, Minnesota – Final Thoughts

For a hike in Minnesota, this is actually not a bad workout – and the payoff at the end is pretty decent, with nice views of the Mississippi / Lake Pepin. It’s a short hike that won’t take all day. I saw all ages and abilities hiking this trail, so as long as you can handle stairs, you should be good to go! Just make sure to stay on the trail – going off-trail could lead to serious injury.

Have you hiked Barn Bluff? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!