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Echo Canyon/Summit Rock Trail at Interstate State Park (WI side) is like a North Shore trail but close to the Cities. Debatable whether it’s rural, but the Barn Bluff trail system is the most spectacular in the state, in my opinion. Also good and undeniably rural is the bluffside loop at nearby Frontenac State Park. I’ll second the Superior Hiking Trail and add my favorite segment, the Cascade River Loop (go in spring or after heavy rain and your mind will be blown). The Root River Water Trail is gorgeous, if infested with tubers (not the potato kind). New Ulm has a nice bike trail that has both urban and “rural” segments (follow Broadway past the northern terminus across the river to the Harkin Store for a historical rural experience).
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Superior Hiking Trail
Mesabi Trail
Echo Canyon/Summit Rock Trail at Interstate State Park (WI side) is like a North Shore trail but close to the Cities. Debatable whether it’s rural, but the Barn Bluff trail system is the most spectacular in the state, in my opinion. Also good and undeniably rural is the bluffside loop at nearby Frontenac State Park. I’ll second the Superior Hiking Trail and add my favorite segment, the Cascade River Loop (go in spring or after heavy rain and your mind will be blown). The Root River Water Trail is gorgeous, if infested with tubers (not the potato kind). New Ulm has a nice bike trail that has both urban and “rural” segments (follow Broadway past the northern terminus across the river to the Harkin Store for a historical rural experience).