Apparently the organizers want to show people route options and one of the organizers asked me what my favorite 5K route is. She asked the right person. I've been thinking about this question for several years. If I was a 5K organizer in Roseau, there is no doubt the route I'm showing you today is what I would go with. This route begins and ends in the Roseau Park. As you'll see, it's a beautiful route with much of it following bike trails, crossing the Roseau River twice, running alongside a golf course, and through woodsy areas.
Here's a map of the course:
A pdf of this map, at this link, has numbers which reference the photos below.
So, we begin at the Roseau Park, near the park multi-purpose building (1):
We then run through the campground part of the park (2):
We leave the park by crossing over the river for the first time (3):
We begin running alongside the golf course (4):
Then, turning north, the golf course is on our right and the hospital is on our left (5):
Occasionally, we may see a Canadian Goose on the golf course (6):
Is a 5K in northern Minnesota complete without a grain elevator (7)?:
The route twists and turns a bit and we see a splash park on the left (8)...
...and the second bridge on the right (9):
After crossing the bridge we run through a quiet residential neighborhood and then return to the bike path (10):
Looking back over our shoulder, we see the river, which we're never too far from (11):
Then we re-enter the park (13):
But before we get to the finish line we need to follow the trail along the north side of the park (14):
This takes us to the main park entrance (15):
Finish Line! (16):
