oh lord, KABLPOMO is fast approaching. got any good ideas to blog on every day in november? last year’s went pretty well, especially since i planned all my posts.
word wednesday, someday sunday, caturday, throwback thursday, etc. i also want to add to my creepy holiday stories, so maybe i will try to get some of those started during november, too.
i’ll take any ideas from my readers!
i started in april at lake maria in the middle of minnesota with snow on the ground and an ambitious summer planned. i finished up my visits to 72 minnesota state parks and recreation areas in october, stopping at rice lake on the way to the southern part of the state.
so many people get caught up in their pockets of home, work, favorite destinations. so many people talk about visiting other countries regularly, heading to a coast every spring break, living the winter months in the southwest US.
but you don’t hear a lot about people visiting different areas of minnesota, about how varied and interesting our own state is. i traveled across most of the counties during my summer travels, sat in the four biomes the state boasts (pretty good for a non-mountainous state), found the place where three watersheds diverge, and drove through the highest points in the state and the lowest. i watched fireflies blink from the prairie in june in the southwest and saw the milky way spread across my vision during a moonless, clear night in august in the northeast. from lake bronson to beaver creek; blue mounds to grand portage; wow does minnesota have a lot to offer.
minnesota has 76 state parks and recreation areas in all parts of the state, providing outdoor activities for all residents. and we do like our parks: every year, more and more minnesotans use the parks. unfortunately, the state congress has been underfunding the parks system. like education, the parks system used to get a large chunk of its money from the state’s general fund and the rest from fees, licenses, etc. now, only a fifth of its budget comes from the general fund. other funding at this point includes the legacy amendment, lottery money, licenses, and fees. at the same time, the parks want to increase its system. people want more groomed trails and acres in their parks and more people use them, but even still, funding is cut.
this means that fees continue to increase and the DNR reduces funding to more of the smaller parks, especially in rural minnesota. last winter, cross-country ski trails at 20 parks went ungroomed. while volunteers are readily welcomed, to do so means that liability insurance needs to be increased.
cuts will start to be made, with 34 parks on the chopping block (including grand portage, the the one at the very tip of the arrowhead AND the final destination in the most beautiful part of the state, in my opinion). this means trails go ungroomed, so much so that they may no longer be trails. campgrounds may be closed for part or all of the season. those 34 parks, of course, are rural parks in sparsely populated areas with fewer regular visitors.
these, of course, are the parks most vital to seeing the state and encouraging residents to get outside.
while i will happily pay more for camping and for my annual permit, not everyone can afford to or is able to do so. and i would encourage all mn legislators to step up and upkeep the parks system that we should be so proud of, one that is available to ALL minnesotans.
but what i really want to encourage is all minnesotans, especially those in the metro, to visit more of the lesser-known parks. head up to grand portage and judge cr magney – even stop at grand portage national monument and sit at the edge of north lake superior, where the hills are tall and tower above the low-level lake and the milky way is visible as soon as you look up at the night sky.
find the restored prairies and bison herd at blue mounds, where you’re so close to south dakota that the wind whispers across the tall grass, telling you to go west.
step onto the swinging bridge over beaver creek, where the water runs clear over polished stones with watercress green in the current.
follow the mississippi river from its source at itasca, the crown jewel of the state parks system, through lake bemidji, schoolcraft, savanna portage, crow wing, lindbergh, lake maria, fort snelling, frontenac, john latsch, great river bluffs.
learn about the rise and fall of late 19th-century towns as the railroad chose to bypass both crow wing and forestville.
step onto the white sand beaches of zippel bay, and listen to the waves of lake of the woods breaking on the shore at night a half mile away in the campground because it’s so quiet.
learn about this great state we live in; the parks are so much more than recreation. you learn about the history, wildlife, ecology, geology, and environment that make minnesota what it is.
there is so much to see in this state we call home, and the parks are the best way to learn what it has to offer. get out there and explore them.
here’s my definitive (sort of) list of the top 10 state parks in minnesota. after a summer of driving and traipsing around the state to visit 72 state parks and recreation areas, this list is the result of what parks i would visit again given the chance.
i knew that not all parks would be my cup of tea, and not all parks would be a destination. but here’s what i do know: there is a park in close proximity to every minnesotan. there’s no excuse to not visit a state park. however, if you want to make a park in minnesota a destination? here are the 10 parks i recommend.
EDIT: apparently i need to clarify some stuff. i enjoyed the north shore. i consider jay cooke to be a part of the north shore parks. but i guess it is not because the big lake is not visible. but here’s my thing: EVERYONE LIKES THE NORTH SHORE. everyone GOES to the north shore. the parks there are visited SO MUCH. they are not in danger of losing funding or support. so i include jay cooke as my favorite “north shore” park even though no big lake. and i include judge cr magney on my bonus national monument park. if i could place grand portage national monument on my state park list? it would probably be #3 or #4. But here’s the thing: you need to GET OUT AND LOOK AT THE REST OF THE STATE. it is FANTASTIC, this state. sure, the north shore is great, but so is itasca and hayes lake and whitewater and BLUE MOUNDS. GET OUT THERE!
itasca was the first state park and is considered the crown jewel of the parks system. it’s the 3rd-most-visited park in the state (behind snelling and gooseberry) and is the 2nd largest (just closely following st. croix at 32,700 acres), located up by park rapids (it’s about 20 minutes from bemidji). it houses the headwaters of the mississippi and the biggest red pine in the state.
it’s also got two campgrounds, several cabins, a lodge, a restaurant, an interpretive center, ANOTHER interpretive center, two gift shops, the best CCC built structure, a wilderness drive, bike paths, hiking paths, several historical sites, and many lakes where you can spend some time.
two anecdotes: 1) i passed through from bemidji to home and only planned on spending 30-45 minutes at the park. i ended up spending 2 hours there. and this was a drizzly gross day in july; 2) right after visiting, a coworker of mine stopped by and asked me about itasca and if he should take his visiting parents there. i said absolutely, though he wasn’t convinced. after he got back, he came to my office and raved about the park. next time his parents visit, they want to spend a week there.
so NO JOKE when i say that itasca is the real deal. i convinced my entire family to spend 5 days there next june. that’s how much i am enamored by itasca.
it’s number one in my book. 😍
here’s why i like blue mounds state park, even though the average person will take a look at its location (far SW corner of the state) and wonder why this is worth the trip.
take a look at that picture: take in the wide blue sky, the waving grass, and imagine that a buffalo herd is wandering across the prairie. (blue mounds has a bison herd but they weren’t wandering close to the fence this day.) to me, blue mounds screams: GO WEST GO WEST GO WEST and i want to load up my car on an early june morning and set out across south dakota, across the prairie, to the hills, to the rough red buttes, to the mountains.
minnesota is in a great place of the country. while non-mountainous, it houses three (perhaps four) distinct biomes, highly unlikely for a non-mountainous state. it’s also home to three watersheds, also unlikely for non-mountainous states. so while a geological wonder, most people just see boring corn fields or monotonous tree-lined roads.
get out and visit blue mounds because it’s a great example of the diversity this state has to offer. the rangers are harboring a patch of dirt that grows native prairie grasses, which supports the bison herd that lives in the park. the location, buffalo ridge, also shows us the varied altitude within the prairie, giving way to lower areas on one end of the park to wide vistas.
go west without even leaving the state.
and in stark contrast the wide-open spaces of blue mounds, we hop to the northeastern-ish area of the state, with tall pines and slate rock.
most people gravitate to gooseberry, but i would offer that jay cooke is the far superior (ha) park. just south of duluth, it’s where the st louis river is getting close to its final destination in lake superior. with the lack of shrubbery and grass due to slate, it’s a fascinating landscape (all up the north shore, really). the st. louis rolls its way around islands and over rocks, which seem to be the perfect location for a pine to take hold.
i can speak to the campground, as jay cooke was one of four parks i camped in over the summer. the spot was spacious – more than enough for two tents – and i was able to put my hammock up between two trees. the trail to the office and lodge was lined with tall pines, which smelled great, and the park had programming every night (the night lori and i were there, it was hoots and howls or something like that).
jay cooke is right outside carlton, which is a nice little town with a lot of historical significance once you dig in a little. the restaurant scene was surprisingly nice, and the drive on 210 to duluth from jay cooke was EXCELLENT.
i have to admit – i visited william o’brien park in early may when the trees were barely starting to bud and the ice was JUST out. when i stopped at WOB, it was starting to rain and get gloomy. i wasn’t sure how i was going to like this park.
BUT, despite the gloom and rain and late spring, i would go back to WOB in a heartbeat. in fact, any of the parks on the st. croix river (see below), and just the drive along the st croix river, are worth the visit. WOB is in a very excellent location in the state, where the deciduous forest meets the coniferous forest, so you have pines and maples hanging out together in this picturesque location along a rumbling little river on its way to the mississippi.
here’s how i knew WOB is a winner: it was raining and i barely got out of the car so i could get the shot above, but even just a short car tour through the park and i was sold. in fact, i might head back there in the next couple weeks so i can experience the park again when it’s not so gloomy
interstate is on my list for many of the same reasons that william o’brien is on my list, with one distinct point: the park is located directly on the st. croix river, giving you excellent locations for camping and listening to the water sliding past. the river valley and bluffs of the st croix are gorgeous, and although this park is small and bordered by busy hwy 95, it’s worth the visit and the stay.
i stopped at interstate the same day as WOB, so i know i’m missing out on a lot of loveliness that this park has to offer. another thing i am doing next time i visit is stopping over to the wisconsin side (hence the name of the park), which offers the same sort of setting with much more park. the minnesota side makes up a small part of the interstate park.
interstate is also close to taylor’s falls, a quaint little historical village on the st croix.
if you’ve ever taken the drive from the cities to winona or la crosse, you know the river road is one drive that you want to take at least once. frontenac seems like it’s a park that might seem a little boring at first: you drive through old frontenac, then up a slightly barren bluff to get to the top. but once you’re there? you’ve made it.
the chippewa river in wisconsin, one of the hardest working rivers in the country, dumps into the mississippi just northwest of wabasha, creating a delta that makes up lake pepin. yep, lake pepin is not the result of a man-made dam but a naturally made delta by a river that’s outputting so much water into the mighty mississippi that it creates a lake.
and frontenac state park gives you a giant view of the widening of the river, letting you take in the bluffs and barges and buoys. there is a series of wooden stairs that take you down to the riverfront, switchbacking their way down the bluff through the trees and foliage with the occasional deck overlooking the river with informational placards and benches.
while you’re there, make sure to take a quick tour through old frontenac, a very historical town with old plantation style houses that line the river to take in the view. the whole village is placed on the national register of historical places. i knew i was in for a treat when there was a horse paddock in the middle of town 🙂
from the highly populated area of the metro and southern part of the state to the far north – zippel bay is the most northerly state park in minnesota, located on the southeast side of lake of the woods. (garden island recreation area is more north, but it’s located on an island in the middle of lake of the woods 30 miles from shore.)
white sand beaches and the shorter, less dense aspen of the area give this park an almost otherworldly feel. i stood on the edge of the lake and felt like i was on the edge of the world (well, edge of the country, that’s for sure). this lake has a different feel from the much larger lake superior, which is lined with tall pines and cliffs. and it was sparse – i was one of 3 people in the park and felt very much isolated, not only from people but from civilization. as i slept in my tent that night, i heard the waves crashing on the shore – a half a mile away.
it might seem like this park is almost too eery to recommend, but i highly recommend this park, if only to take the time to separate yourself from civilization. like i said, i heard the waves a half a mile away. it is never that silent in my neck of the woods. it’s rare that anyone experiences that kind of silence or darkness. the park is beautiful and awe-inspiring and eery and invigorating.
i almost didn’t include hayes lake in my top ten. in fact i’m still hesitant to add it, but it’s in a part of the state that people rarely visit and i think it’s important to expand our horizons.
also, it’s one example i’ve found of a man-made dam doing a lot of good for the environment. i’ve learned a lot about a lot of things while on my parks visits: the dakota resettlement saga; the oak savannah; the ecology, topography, and geology of minnesota; preservation and conservation efforts; and man-made efforts to contain rivers. in most cases, i’m pro-river, pro-environment. get rid of the control of the rivers and let water do its thing.
but hayes lake is in the middle of a lake droughted area that has a lot of wildlife passing through. so the addition of hayes lake in the early 1900s was a boon for the wildlife in the area, which you can see in the photo above. when i visited, there were a ton of fowl on the water, just paddling along.
the park is also quintessential north – the blue, crisp lake and green, tall pines.
if i hadn’t lived 10 miles from whitewater for three years, i might not have placed it on this list. but since i knew more about whitewater than i would’ve with one visit, i would recommend a visit because of the park as well as the area of the state. the whitewater river flows through the park, creating the valley and large bluffs surrounding the park. there are several trails throughout, awesome trout fishing, and a fire tower if you feel adventurous. there’s a small “lake” in the park (i call it a pond where i come from), along with several picnic pavilions and picnic tables. it’s a great place to take a day trip. st. charles has a small bike shop for those who need to get a tune-up before heading out on the trails.
i’ll also give a shoutout to the bluff country of southeastern minnesota while i’m here: lanesboro, rushford, preston. the area is fantastic sight seeing, and if you’re a biking buff, check out the root river trail.
number 10 was hard. i was wavering between sibley state park, banning, and glacial lakes, and in the end glacial lakes won out because of the varied area surrounding the parks. there’s a lake with cabins available to stay in and camping, as well as boating and swimming.
but i think the topography of the area is really interesting. it’s where the glaciers left gravel deposits as well divots, so there are hills and lakes throughout. it’s also technically in the prairie, and there is preserved prairie within the park with native grasses and flowers, but the area also boasts some hardwood forest, so you can see how the hardwood forests have encroached a bit on the prairie.*
the farther north you get in minnesota, the more isolated you feel and fewer people you see. on the north shore jaunt, i stayed at judge cr magney park (home of devil’s kettle falls), where the light pollution is so small that you could see the milky way as soon as you stepped outdoors.
but keep going north to the tip of the arrowhead, past the majority of north shore visitors, and check out grand portage national monument.
the drive there turns out to be one of the most breathtaking in the state, with the road curving up large hills through the pines and the expanse of the lake to the east. at this point, the lake no longer crashes against tall slate rock outcropping but laps at shoreline. as you pull into the national monument area with grand portage bay opening up below you, you can see why this was a popular place for furtraders and native americans coming and going in their large canoes.
unfortunately for lori and me, we got there too late for the visitor’s center, but we scoped out the historical displays and stood on the long dock. it’s not hard to imagine the haven this would have been.
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every park i went to had something going for it. there was always something that was interesting, whether it was geological, topographical, the types of trees, water feature, etc. my top ten may not necessarily be anyone else’s top ten, especially since i confess to be a true trees and lakes kind of girl (and a person who appreciates south dakota).
what is great and what i encourage you to do is visit all the parks and find out for yourself what you like, whether it’s a refuge of a lake amid flat fields of corn (split rock creek state park, kilen woods), cascades (anything on the north shore), bluffs and river valleys (great river bluffs, beaver creek valley), or exploring the boglands (big bog – which is super interesting!).
and let’s take one paragraph to give some extreme props to the civilian conservation corps – the CCC. many, many of the parks i visited had some construction done by the CCC – whether it was the swinging bridge at jay cooke, the lodge and cabins at itasca, the water tower at lake bronson. your short history lesson: the CCC was a work relief program put in place 1933-1942 in efforts to get the economy going again (great depression, you know). it provided jobs to 3 million young men, who earned $30/month ($25 of which was sent home). the CCC planted 3 BILLION trees after conservationists pointed out that the loggers hadn’t planted any replacement trees. they construction trails, lodges, building, facilities in 800+ parks across the country. they created state parks, updated forest fighting methods, and did some public building and roadway construction. it was so popular that 82% of the public agreed with how it was working (can’t imagine that today!). so the style of the buildings you see in the state parks? that’s due to the CCC.
so. minnesota’s tourism office isn’t wrong one bit. explore minnesota. it’s really, really quite the mixture of greatness.
RUNNERS UP: here are the parks that i think you could also visit but are in the same area as other parks that i place higher on the list:
*you see a lot of oaks in this transition area. this is the oak savannah, and it used to be primarily oak trees and prairieland. oak bark is especially resilient to fire due to its thickness, so those trees stood after the other hardwoods succumbed to FLAME when prairie fires came through. after settlers started pouring in and putting out the prairie fires, the oak savannas disappeared and the hardwood forest started encroaching on the prairie.
the moment came: saturday, i finished up my list of state parks to finish with sakatah and rice lake.
i headed down I-35 and turned off at faribault to check out sakatah state park. the park is known mostly for its bike trails and the lake. it was a windy, dreary day, so i didn’t spend too much time at the park, just checked out the area where the lake access was: a picnic area and a solid restroom. the lake was choppy and the day was pretty dreary, like i said, so it’s hard to appreciate parks when the weather isn’t cooperating.
while i was stopped at the office to get my stamp, a couple walked in with a passport as well, with only 6 stamps in it. they asked how many i’d been to and were shocked when i said 71.
i was mildly shocked myself!
the guy who helped me out at sakatah gave me my second-to-last stamp and my certificate for a free night’s camping. there were a lot of people at the park, at least i thought so for the dreary day, which is a testament to how much the parks are used by locals.
(well, and not locals like me and the couple.)
then it was off to rice lake, which is a more picturesque park than sakatah, i believe. the trees are a little more towering, and the new fishing pier is a nice addition to the lake to get people out past cattails.
this has a network of great hiking trails, and the picnic shelter you can sort of make out in the photo above. i think in another week, the leaves would be great at this park.
i rounded out my trip with a stop at the rice lake park office, where i chatted with the rangers about getting my plaque and how i managed to get 72 state parks and recreation areas visited over the summer. the form went out in the mail yesterday, and i should get a finisher’s plaque in 4-6 weeks.
i think she wanted to take my passport and mail it to them, but i insisted that i got to keep it (i read the instructions thoroughly). i would’ve felt naked if she’d’ve taken it away!
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i’m kind of sad this is over! but i’m happy i did it so i know which parks to go back to. and it really put into perspective the different areas that minnesota itself has to offer.
i haven’t had a chance to get to my photos i took, but i just wanted to post briefly about the fact that yesterday, oct. 6, i finished up a 6-month endeavor to visit all the state parks in minnesota.
*applause for self*
i finished up by visiting sakatah lake state park, which is just west of faribault, and rice lake state park, just east of owatonna. and while i’m going to wait until i get my photos to do my reviews of the parks, here are a couple items of interest:
1. i filled out a form at rice lake, which they are going to send in to the state office, for a plaque that says i finished. exciting!
2. they were completely impressed by the fact that i visited all of them in 6 months. i find it surprising that there aren’t many people who finish in a short amount of time. they asked if i had summer off – i said no, i work 40 hours and only took maybe 4 days off total for this. maybe most of the people who do this are severely casual about the whole thing. not sure.
3. i’m going to edit my editorial to include some more information, and then i will send it to the startribune.
4. i will also do a top 5 parks post! i’m excited for that, because it’ll be interesting to see what i choose as number 4 and 5. maybe i’ll do a top 10.
5. we are scheduled for a trip to itasca next summer already! i am totally excited for it already.
that’s all i’ve got right now for parks. i’m happy i’m finished, and i’m happy that i know what parks i’ll visit again. and i’m really happy that i accomplished this goal!
my reception in the hills was not great, so i’m posting from home after 10 hours in the car. getting home is always nice 🙂
buffalo on the move!
day two of the hills started off well with the wildlife loop through custer state park. the buffalo roundup was last weekend, so we saw all the bison slated for auction in november. we also saw a few prairie dogs and some very curious donkeys.
after cruising through wyoming where the pronghorns were prolific, it didn’t surprise us to see a few more.
tuesday ended up being a really nice day – 70s and sunny. so we took needles highway, stopped in hill city, drove past rushmore, stopped in keystone, and then took the iron mountain road back.
going to the hills in october is great if you can time the weather right. you spend a lot of time with the older crowd – not a lot of kids but a lot of retirees. i’m ok with that!
we saw mountain goats on needles! at this point, we’d seen bighorns, goats, buffalo, donkeys, pronghorns, p-dogs. nate said all we needed was a rattlesnake.
we got back to camp and ended the day with a nice supper at bluebell lodge – buffalo sirloin tips for nate and a sirloin steak for me. the food at bluebell was fantastics.
wednesday started off great, temp wise, so i decided to go for a hike on the centennial trail.
see that river? i forded that river with my camera gear on my back. i was so scared i’d go in the drink and be out my camera gear. but i made it across and then back.
and guess what?
I SAW A SNAKE. i don’t know if it was rattler (no rattle) but it COUNTS. wildlife bingo complete for this trip.
i got back to the cabin and the temp peaked for the day about about 70. the temp then dropped nearly 20º in about a half hour. i went from baking in my sweaty clothes after a hike to shivering in my sweatshirt.
so nate and i took off again, stopping at custer, then heading to hill city to check out the train museum. then we went to keystone for lunch/supper at the ruby house. they branched out since i was last there, with more affordable food options.
then we went a packed to go home. booo. this morning we left in 30º ice pellets. huzzah. it rained the entire way home. we did stop in wall for breakfast, but it just wasn’t the same with anticipation at its highest.
now here i sit in my house with my kitties. i drove home through the avon hills and could see the leaves are starting to turn. i’m excited to see what the leaves have in store for us. vacation is nice, but it’s just as nice to come home.
here’s a quick photodump while i have some internet! service has been sketchy at best. took me forever to pay my parking meter at a website yesterday. *eyeroll*
stopped at the badlands and saw TWO bighorns, which is unheard of. then got to bluebell as the weather was most depressing – 40s, rainy, and foggy. gross.
but it cleared up for yesterday. went to devils tower and stopped for a jewel cave tour on the way.i forgot how lovey wyoming is. tons of free-range pronghorns, red rocks-esque landscape, sweeping vistas, kind of desolate but in a panoramic way. northeast wyoming is really nice. also, it’d been a while since i’d been to devil’s tower and WOW i forgot how huge that thing is.
then headed down through spearfish canyon, which was gorgeous. stopped at deadwood for supper, then stopped at pactola dam just as the sun was setting.
today is shaping up to be a warm day, and i wish i’d checked the weather right before packing because i packed for cold weather. might need to buy some shorts.
anyway, i’m sitting in the parking lot of the bluebell restaurant waiting for it to open and taking advantage ofr the 2 bars of LTE i suddenly got on my phone!
not sure what’s in store today. maybe a wildlife loop? have NOT seen a buffalo yet this trip.