The Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway is part of the Federal Highway Administration’s National Scenic Byways Program, which recognizes and supports outstanding roads. The Grand Rounds is one of the country’s longest continuous systems of public urban parkways and has been the preeminent urban parkway system for more than a century.
The Grand Rounds encompasses natural features, including lakes, creeks, woodlands, riverbanks, and wetlands, as well as constructed features, like canals, lagoons, greenways and parks, playgrounds, parkways, trails, golf courses, athletic fields, picnic grounds, gardens, and bridges.
Originally conceived by Horace W. S. Cleveland and other visionaries in the early days of the Minneapolis Park System, the Grand Rounds is a unique example of a connected park system created for the benefit of the citizens and visitors of Minneapolis.
The Grand Rounds has been nominated for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.
Contact
Phone: 612-230-6400
Email: info@minneapolisparks.org
Pocket maps mailed by request.
Park Hours
6 am-midnight in developed areas
6 am-10 pm in undeveloped areas
Ordinance PB-2-33
Features & Amenities
Approximately 55 miles of parkways
102 miles of Grand Rounds trails:
51 miles walking; 51 miles biking
The system consists of seven segments:
- Downtown Riverfront: 1.2 miles
- Chain of Lakes: 13.3 miles
- Minnehaha: 12.6 miles
- Mississippi River: 9.2 miles
- Northeast: 6 miles
- Victory Memorial: 3.8 miles
- Theodore Wirth: 4 miles
Good to Know
Information kiosks along byway trails
More than 50 interpretive sites
20 byway access areas from interstates and major thoroughfares
A “missing link” between the Mississippi and Northeast segments keeps the Grand Rounds from being the unbroken ring of parks and parkways that its founders envisioned. This project will connect East River Parkway with St. Anthony Parkway.
Details
Size: Approximately 4,662 acres
The Grand Rounds Scenic Byway runs along the following Minneapolis parkways:
- Ridgway Road/Ridgway Parkway
- Stinson Boulevard
- Saint Anthony Parkway
- Victory Memorial Drive
- Theodore Wirth Parkway
- Cedar Lake Parkway
- West Bde Maka Ska Parkway
- William Berry Parkway/West Lake Harriet Parkway
- East Lake Harriet Parkway/East Lake Harriet Boulevard
- West and East Minnehaha Parkway
- East Nokomis Parkway
- West River Parkway
Rentals & Permits
Parking: Learn about parking options along the parkways and how to obtain an Annual Patron Parking Permit.
Outdoor Use and Event Space: Learn how to reserve park space for corporate events, community celebrations, and more. Application [PDF]
Parkway Use: You must obtain a permit for special use of the parkway including closures, and dumpsters, trucks, limousines or carriages on the parkway. View parkway permit details. Permit Application [PDF]
History
Led by Horace W. S. Cleveland’s vision and that of many others who followed, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board’s early ‘down payment’ to protect many of the intrinsic resources of Minneapolis by creating The Grand Rounds has returned immeasurable benefits to generations of city residents and millions of city visitors.
Among many other national and international distinctions, that early investment in The Grand Rounds today also manifests itself as America’s most important urban scenic byway.
Historical Milestones
Designated as a Minnesota State Scenic Byway (1997) According to the Federal Highway Administration, “Scenic Byways are public roads having special scenic, historic, recreational, cultural, archeological and natural qualities that have been recognized as such through legislation and other official declaration. Scenic byways refer not only to the road, street or highway itself but also to the corridor through which it passes.”
Received two federal grants for the development of the Interpretation Program (1997) and a model volunteer and hospitality program (1998)
Designated as a ‘National Scenic Byway’ by the Federal Highway Administration (April 1998)
Recognized by the Federal Highway Administration as the premier national urban scenic byway (1998)
Provided the key link in completing the Great River Road (1998)
Longfellow House operated as an Interpretive/Visitor Center from 2000-2018
Grand Rounds “Enchanted Journey” exhibit installed at the Longfellow House Interpretive and Information Center (2002)
Collaboration with Hennepin History Museum brought new historical exhibits to the Longfellow House as well as expanded the traveling exhibits for the Byway (2002)
“Look forward for a century, to the time when the city has a population of a million, and think what will be their wants. They will have wealth enough to purchase all that money can buy, but all their wealth cannot purchase a lost opportunity, or restore natural features of grandeur and beauty, which would then possess priceless value . . .”
— Horace Cleveland
Minneapolis Park System Landscape Gardener, 1883