Upper St. Croix Wine Trail

The Upper St. Croix Wine Trail is a self-guided winery route through the St. Croix River Valley in Minnesota and Wisconsin, northeast of Minneapolis and St. Paul. It’s a countryside outing rather than a walkable tasting district: expect drives through farmland and woods, with time for river-town browsing, lunch or a trail walk between tastings.

The appeal is the variety of settings, from vineyard grounds and gardens to tasting rooms with decks and outdoor seating. The wines aren’t limited to grapes, either; fruit wines and mead, made from honey, are part of the mix. This is a good route for travelers who would rather explore local tastes than spend the afternoon debating whether they’re tasting wine correctly.

How to plan your visit

Plan on two tastings for a relaxed day, leaving room for lunch and the drives between properties. The wineries are spread across the rural valley and surrounding countryside, not lined up along a single main street. Map your chosen tasting rooms before setting out, and build your route around their actual opening hours rather than trying to complete the trail.

Taylors Falls, Minnesota, and neighboring St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, make practical bases for combining wineries with time along the river. Center City, Minnesota, is another option if you want to spend more of the weekend around the Chisago Lakes area.

The trail does not provide transportation. Designate a driver or arrange a private ride in advance. Contact tasting rooms directly about reservations and current tasting fees; groups, including those arriving by bus or limousine, should give advance notice.

When to go and what to check

Late spring through fall is the simplest time to plan a visit, with outdoor seating adding another reason to linger. Weekends offer the best overlap in the published tasting-room schedules, but check each winery before leaving. Winter needs more planning: January closures and appointment-only tastings from January through April can affect your route.

The trail’s events page offers a printable Wine Trail Brochure and Passport. Download it before your trip, then confirm any current passport terms directly with participating tasting rooms. Treat it as a planning aid, not a reason to rush past a place where you’d rather stay for another glass.