One day up the St. Croix River from Saint Paul: Stillwater’s museums, the first sawmill ruins in the state, a Swedish settlement museum and a lumber baron’s house. Every road time below was measured; the time at each stop is our estimate and is labelled that way.
Start at 9:00 a.m. each day. The first and last drives are from and to Downtown Saint Paul. Road times come from OpenStreetMap routing and do not include traffic, closures, parking or walking. Pick the stops you want: the ones marked Optional can be dropped, which frees 1 h 30 min in all.
- Day 1: Stillwater, Marine on St. Croix and Taylors Falls
- What We Could Not Confirm
- Questions
- All Itineraries
- 1Day
- 5Stops
- 2 h 23 minRoad Time, Measured
- 103 miRoad Miles, Measured
Trip Kit
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Day 1: Stillwater, Marine on St. Croix and Taylors Falls
- S
Start: Downtown Saint Paul (start)
26 min by road, 18.7 mi, measured
1Washington County Heritage Center
What to see: County history exhibits.
Type: Museum, Stillwater
Hours, as the operator states: Tue-Sat 10-4
Admission, as the operator states: See official site
5 min by road, 2.1 mi, measured
2Warden’s House Museum
What to see: Historic warden’s house museum.
Type: House museum, Stillwater
Hours, as the operator states: Tours Thu-Sun at 1, 2, 3 and 4 pm
Admission, as the operator states: See official site
16 min by road, 11.1 mi, measured
3Marine Mill
What to see: Ruins of the first commercial sawmill in Minnesota (operated 1839-1895) on a bluff over the St. Croix River; trails.
Type: State historic site, Marine on St. Croix
Hours, as the operator states: Daily 8-8
Admission, as the operator states: Free
10 min by road, 6.3 mi, measured
4Gammelgården Museum
What to see: Historic Swedish immigrant buildings; Välkommen Hus and Butik.
Type: Historic village, Scandia
Hours, as the operator states: Wed-Sat 10-4; Sun 1-4 (2026 season May 2-Dec 19; closed Oct 25-31, 2026)
Admission, as the operator states: Building tours $15 ($14 military/veterans/Time Traveler members; members free)
23 min by road, 15.9 mi, measured
5Folsom House
What to see: Guided tour of the Folsom family house restored to its 19th-century appearance.
Type: House museum, Taylors Falls
Hours, as the operator states: See official site
Admission, as the operator states: Free; donations appreciated
1 h 03 min by road, 49.0 mi, measured
SFinish: Downtown Saint Paul (start)
Day 1 map: 5 of 5 stops are pinned, numbered in plan order: 1. Washington County Heritage Center; 2. Warden’s House Museum; 3. Marine Mill; 4. Gammelgården Museum; 5. Folsom House. The start and finish points are off the map. Lines are straight and show order only, not the road. Each pin is an OpenStreetMap point for the named place, checked by eye; it is not a verified entrance or parking lot.
If a Stop Is Closed or The Weather Turns
Drop an Optional stop first: together they are 1 h 30 min of the plan, and the road times for the others stay the same except where the dropped stop sat between two. Check each operator’s page before you go, because the hours above are copied from the operator on the date in our dataset and change by season.
What We Could Not Confirm
- Time on site, Essential or Optional, and the arrival clock are our own planning estimates, not operator figures. The 9:00 a.m. start is an assumption.
- Road times are OpenStreetMap routing for a car with no live traffic, closures, tolls, parking search or ferry waits. Real trips will run longer at busy hours.
- Opening hours: we did not check each arrival time against the stop’s hours. Some stops are closed on some weekdays or for the season; confirm with the operator before you go.
- Pins are OpenStreetMap points for each named place, not verified entrances or parking.
- Dog and child rules, accessibility and prices for stops whose operators do not state them are not confirmed here; ask the operator.
Questions People Ask
How long does the drive take on this itinerary?
We measured 2 h 23 min and 103 road miles in all across 1 day. That is routing without traffic; allow more at busy times.
Can I do it all in one go?
Plan on 6 h 08 min on the road and at stops for day 1 on our estimates. Optional stops can be dropped and free 1 h 30 min in all.
Are the hours and prices current?
They are copied from each operator’s own page as listed on Historic Sites, which we checked on November 1, 2026. Hours and prices change; use the Official page link on each stop.
More Minnesota Trips
Other itineraries: Twin Cities Weekend, Duluth and the North Shore, The Minnesota River Valley, The Iron Range, Central Minnesota. Back to all itineraries.
Related: Stillwater destination guide, Historic Sites, Drive Times, St. Croix Valley & East Central events, Plan a Visit, Venues.
Sources
- Stops, hours and admission: the open dataset Minnesota historic sites (CSV), the same rows as Historic Sites, each with its operator link.
- Road times and miles: OSRM routing on OpenStreetMap data, run by us on November 1, 2026. Coordinates: OpenStreetMap.
- Checked November 1, 2026 by It’s Minnesota. Cite this page: It’s Minnesota (https://itsminnesota.com/itineraries/st-croix-valley-day-trip/), checked November 1, 2026. Free to quote with a link.