Quick hike is worth it for a view from the bluffHikers can
ascend the bluff in a strenuous but fairly brief walk using the
steps. Climbers also have discovered Barn Bluff in recent years.
Towering more than 330 feet above downtown on the banks of the
Mississippi River, Barn Bluff has been a part of Red Wing's
story for centuries. Hikers can ascend the bluff in a strenuous
but fairly brief walk using the steps. Climbers also have
discovered Barn Bluff in recent years. Ten thousand years ago,
the bluff was an island during the massive outflow of the five-
mile-wide glacial River Warren, which carved much of today's
Upper Mississippi Valley. A native Dakota Indian legend tells a
different story about a mountain twice as big that once stood in
the place of Barn Bluff. Two Dakota villages disputed possession
of the land. As a compromise, the Great Spirit divided the
mountain into two parts. One remained in Red Wing, and the other
half was moved downstream to Winona, where it is known as
Sugarloaf. During the 19th c