Stillwater Lift Bridge Historic Site: Visitor's Guide
Key takeaways
- The 1931 Stillwater Lift Bridge closed to cars in 2017 and now carries only pedestrians and cyclists on the Loop Trail.
- The bridge still lifts its span for St. Croix river traffic, so time your visit around a raise if you want the full show.
- Lowell Park on the Minnesota side offers the shortest walk to the pedestrian entrance, and weekend riverfront parking fills before late morning.
- Because the bridge is walk-only, plan any drive as a one-way crossing with your exit over the newer St. Croix Crossing upstream.
- A 25-mile loop through Marine on St. Croix and the Brown's Creek corridor pairs the bridge with valley overlooks without retracing any road.
The Stillwater Lift Bridge historic site is a 1931 vertical-lift bridge over the St. Croix River, now closed to cars and open to walkers and cyclists on the Loop Trail. This guide covers its history, parking, turn-by-turn directions, and a scenic St. Croix Valley drive built around it.
What is the Stillwater Lift Bridge and why is it historically significant?
The Stillwater Lift Bridge is a historic vertical-lift bridge crossing the St. Croix River between Stillwater, Minnesota and Houlton, Wisconsin. It opened in 1931 and carried Highway 36 traffic for more than 80 years, making it one of the region's most recognizable river crossings (Minnesota Department of Transportation).
From 1931 lift span to historic site status
Built during the Depression era, the bridge used a lift span design that raised its center section so river barges and boats could pass beneath. When the new St. Croix Crossing opened downstream in 2017, the old span was retired from vehicle traffic and preserved as a pedestrian and bicycle crossing, now part of the Loop Trail connecting Minnesota and Wisconsin.
That preservation matters for road trippers: the bridge is a rare chance to walk across a working piece of 1930s engineering with views of the St. Croix Valley on both ends. It also fits a broader tradition of historic crossings worth a detour, like the covered bridges of Vermont (see our covered bridges guide).
Can you still walk or drive across the Stillwater Lift Bridge today?
No car traffic crosses the bridge anymore. Since the newer St. Croix Crossing opened upstream in 2017, the 1931 lift bridge has carried only pedestrians and bikes, making it a quiet historic stop rather than a through route.
What the crossing feels like on foot
Walking it takes about ten minutes, and the lift span's steel trusses frame the Stillwater harbor on one side and Wisconsin riverfront on the other. When boats pass, the deck can still rise, so check for lift activity if you want the full show. The surface is wooden planking in places, which matters if you're pushing a stroller or riding a bike.
Pair the crossing with a longer Sunday drive through the valley and other historic crossings like the ones we cover in our guide to covered bridges in Pennsylvania (https://wanderwayapp.com/covered-bridges-pennsylvania).
Where do you park and how do you navigate to the Lift Bridge historic site?
Which parking lot fits your visit
Downtown Stillwater puts you within a short walk of the bridge on both sides of the river. The Minnesota side offers public lots along Main Street and near Lowell Park, where the Lift Bridge landing meets the waterfront. If you want the shortest walk to the pedestrian entrance, aim for the Lowell Park area; if you plan to browse Main Street first, the downtown lots work better. Weekend afternoons fill the riverfront fast, so arriving before late morning saves you a loop around the blocks hunting for a spot. Street parking is metered in the core, and the City of Stillwater posts current pedestrian access details for the bridge and Loop Trail connection.
Navigating with your maps app without backtracking
The approach matters more than the destination pin here. If you cross into Wisconsin over the bridge, you cannot drive back across it, since it now carries the Loop Trail and pedestrian traffic only, so a naive round trip sends you to the St. Croix Crossing bridge upstream to return. Set your route as a one-way drive with a planned exit over the newer crossing, or park downtown and walk on. A route planner that supports dropped pins and avoids backtracking, like WanderWay's covered-bridges navigation, handles this by sequencing the bridge stop before your exit leg. Apple Maps and Google Maps both reach the Lowell Park pin fine, but neither will warn you that the bridge itself is walk-only, so check the approach road names before you commit.
How does the Lift Bridge connect to the Brown's Creek State Trail and Loop Trail?
The Lift Bridge anchors trail connections on both banks of the St. Croix. On the Minnesota side, the Brown's Creek State Trail runs about 6 miles from the bridge area northeast toward the Gateway State Trail near Stillwater's northern edge, giving you a paved route for walking or biking before or after your crossing.
Brown's Creek State Trail on the Minnesota side
The trail follows Brown's Creek through shaded, creek-side terrain and links directly to the lift bridge plaza, so you can park once and cover both the historic site and a stretch of trail on foot. It is a flat, easy out-and-back if you only have an hour.
Wisconsin-side connections
Cross the bridge and you reach the Wisconsin side of the St. Croix crossing, where local paths connect toward Houlton and the Loop Trail routing around the riverfront. Drivers using turn-by-turn navigation often overshoot the small trailhead entrances here, so a dropped-pin search for "Brown's Creek State Trail trailhead" beats guessing (see our coverage at https://wanderwayapp.com/press).
What else should you see on a St. Croix Valley scenic drive around Stillwater?
A sample 2-3 hour loop
Start at the Lift Bridge parking area downtown, cross the bridge on foot, then drive north on the Brown's Creek State Trail corridor toward its trailhead near Highway 96. From there, head west through rolling farmland to Marine on St. Croix, a preserved 19th-century river village, then follow the river road south back into Stillwater. The loop runs roughly 25 miles and never retraces a road, so you finish where you started without driving any stretch twice.
Stops worth a dropped pin
| Stop | What you'll find | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Stillwater Lift Bridge | 1931 lift bridge, now pedestrian-only on the Loop Trail | 30 min |
| Brown's Creek trailhead | Creek-side trail access off the loop | 15 min |
| Marine on St. Croix | Historic Main Street, General Nelson store | 30 min |
| St. Croix river overlooks | Pull-offs between Marine and Stillwater | 20 min |
Plot these as dropped pins in order and your mapping app sequences them as one route. WanderWay's route optimization is built for exactly this: a curated drive with no backtracking, plus dropped-pin sight searches when you spot an overlook worth pulling into. It handles the whole loop on CarPlay with a one-time purchase (https://wanderwayapp.com/). Apple Maps and Google Maps both sequence multi-stop routes fine; they just won't surface the historic stops between them.
When is the best time to visit the Stillwater Lift Bridge?
Aim for late September through mid-October if fall color is the goal: the bluffs along the St. Croix turn orange and red, and the bridge deck gives you an elevated view of the valley. Summer weekends are liveliest, with Main Street crowds and the longest lift-bridge activity, but also the toughest parking. For a quieter visit, go on a weekday morning before 10 a.m. You will have the Loop Trail and the pedestrian deck mostly to yourself, and morning light on the river photographs well. The bridge still lifts for boat traffic on the St. Croix, and watching a raise is part of the appeal. Lift times vary with river traffic and season, so check current schedules posted by the City of Stillwater or Minnesota DOT before you go rather than planning around a fixed clock time.
Which navigation app should you use to get there?
How the tools compare for this drive
For the drive itself, Google Maps and Apple Maps both handle the Stillwater address fine, and Apple Maps deep-links straight from CarPlay if you are already in the Apple ecosystem. Organic Maps works offline, which matters if you lose signal along the St. Croix valley, and its maps are free of clutter (Organic Maps documentation). None of the three, though, will tell you that the bridge's span still raises for river traffic, so check the current boat lift schedule with Minnesota's transportation department before you time a visit around it.
Where WanderWay falls short
WanderWay earns its keep on the surrounding loop, not the destination. Its route optimization avoids backtracking when you string together downtown Stillwater, the Loop Trail, and overlooks upriver, and its dropped-pin search surfaces historic stops Google Maps treats as afterthoughts. The honest gap: turn-by-turn guidance to the bridge itself is not its strength, and it lacks live traffic, which Waze has. Use WanderWay to build the Sunday drive, and one of the mainstream apps to finish the last mile.
How does the Lift Bridge fit the covered-bridge and historic-crossings road trip tradition?
The Stillwater Lift Bridge belongs to a family of crossings that road trippers chase for the same reason: the bridge itself is the destination. Covered bridges in Ohio, Vermont, and Pennsylvania draw Sunday drives with the same promise this lift bridge makes, that the route includes a structure worth stopping for.
What sets the Lift Bridge apart is that it still moves. Few historic crossings in the Midwest lift their span for river traffic, so you can watch the mechanics work, not just admire the woodwork.
Treat it as an anchor stop. Build a curated route with two or three other historic crossings and scenic overlooks in the St. Croix Valley, and you have a no-backtracking loop of an hour or two of driving.
FAQ
Is the Stillwater Lift Bridge open to cars?
No. Since the St. Croix Crossing opened upstream in 2017, the 1931 lift bridge has been closed to vehicle traffic and now carries only pedestrians and cyclists as part of the Loop Trail. If you drive across it into Wisconsin, you cannot drive back; plan your exit over the newer crossing or park downtown and walk on.
How long is the walk across the Stillwater Lift Bridge?
Plan on about ten minutes each way at a casual pace. The deck crosses the St. Croix between the Stillwater harbor and the Wisconsin riverfront, with steel trusses framing views on both ends. Parts of the surface are wooden planking, so expect a slightly uneven ride with a stroller or bike.
Is there a fee to visit the Stillwater Lift Bridge historic site?
No. The bridge is a free public crossing on the Loop Trail, and the Lowell Park area on the Minnesota side gives you the shortest walk to the pedestrian entrance. Metered street parking applies downtown, and weekend riverfront spots fill early, so arriving before late morning keeps the visit frustration-free.
Does the Stillwater Lift Bridge still lift for boats?
Yes. The span still raises for river traffic on the St. Croix, and watching a raise is part of the visit. Lift times vary with boat traffic and season rather than following a fixed clock schedule, so check current timings with the City of Stillwater or Minnesota DOT before planning your crossing around one.
Can you bike across the Stillwater Lift Bridge into Wisconsin?
Yes. Cyclists share the deck with pedestrians on the Loop Trail, though the wooden planking in places makes for a bumpy ride. Once across, local paths on the Wisconsin side connect toward Houlton and the riverfront. Remember the bridge is one-way for vehicles: driving back means returning over the St. Croix Crossing upstream.