Come Hell or High Water-Afton State Park

Minnesota weather was finally cooperative and we were able to take a hike down some of the trails at Afton State Park today. Due to the high amount of rainfall this Summer some of the areas of the park were flooded, as you will see in some of my photos.

The park itself was relatively easy to find, especially if you've ever been to Afton Alps ski area. I was greeted by helpful state park staff at the gate, who got me my day permit (I should really just buy an annual permit) and let us know that the beach, in particular, was closed due to flooding. From there it was a short and winding drive to the various visitor parking areas. All along the drive, you are greeted with open prairie and wildflower areas. This was the first area we hiked as well, including parts of  the Prairie Walk Interpretive Trail. There were numerous birds, butterflies and bees to be found among the wildflowers.

As it was a sunny morning and beginning to heat up, we decided to walk along the various trails following the St. Croix River. The trails were mostly paved and provided an adequate amount of shade for a hot Summer's day, along with the expected mosquito or two. 

We stopped at a couple of lookout areas and headed down the paths toward the beach area. Water was beginning to creep up but the trails were still a safe distance away from the river water. Here are a couple of photos of the flooded areas, near the beach and dock area. You can see in the one photo where a bench is almost completely submerged by the river water. That's where we decided to stop and rest then return to the car, as it was almost noon and already in the upper 80s for temperature. 

In total, we walked a little over 2 miles of hiking trails within the park. Most of the hiking was paved and flat, however there were a number of stairs to navigate on the way down to the beach picnic area. It was a great outdoor workout!

Just a couple more photographs to finish the post. I hope this has helped anyone considering visiting this Minnesota State Park!

Another Great DNR Event, Not Necessarily a State Park

Yesterday was National Get Outdoors Day and as many other families in the Twin Cities, we got out to play as well. This post isn't about a State Park but it does cover one of the events posted on their Events page. It was a joint venture between Minneapolis Parks and Rec, MN DNR, U.S. Forest Service and REI. It was held at Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis.

Almost immediately upon arrival we were offered a free child's life jacket. Of the array of outdoor activities presented for families to try, we bee-lined for the Base Camp archery range. The instructors were knowledgeable and every one got a chance to shoot 5 arrows. Next, we checked out the variety of fish located in Minnesota's lakes and streams. They offered instructor led fishing opportunities from the I Can Fish! Program which we would have tried, had the climbing wall not been calling our names. On the way through the various tents and stations along the walk, we learned about leaving no trace and dangers to be aware of while camping in MN. How many problems do you see in the campsite? Let's start with Timmy, who is a bit close to the fire!

We also checked out a screech owl as well. He was quite cute!

Then we were off to the climbing wall. They harnessed up and I got a few good pics of them climbing the wall together as father and daughter. It's heart-warming to see moments like that. Then the sight of roasting marshmallows brought us to check out the I Can Camp! program site, where we got to make gooey s'mores, roasted over a fire. We picked up a booklet on all of the DNR's Summer event offerings and the I Can Camp! Program. 

Canoeing and paddleboarding were offered at the park, though the wait kept us moving along to see what else we could check out. Our last activity of the afternoon was geocaching. I've always wanted to try it out but not having my own GPS unit has keep me away in the past. Some of the MN State Parks are "demo" parks and offer GPS units that can be borrowed for use within the parks. We went for a virtual cache for the day and after the coordinates were entered in our GPS, we were off walking through the park. It led us to some further education about the fish located within Powderhorn Lake. It also earned the child a shiny Jr. Ranger badge!

I definitely felt the entire family learned a lot about the various outdoor activities available to Minnesotans and had an amazing time. I'll be looking forward to getting out and exploring it more in the future.

Summer Planning, State Parks

As another member of our family joins us in the Summer, we've been looking for fun, outdoors activities to do this year. One of the programs we meant to try last year, but it was booked up, was the State Parks I Can Climb! program. Today I finally booked us a family adventure attending this program at Blue Mounds State Park.

I'm excited because Blue Mounds just welcomed baby bison to their herd. I'm thinking this will be exciting to more than just one of us. It looks like the MN DNR has also posted a short video of the baby bison on YouTube. I'm hoping to scope out the tipi and I'd love to spend the night. (It sleeps 6 and can be rented for $30 a night.) However, I think I may be the only one on this trip. It's a bit of drive, so I plan on hitting 2-3 other MN State Parks nearby in my efforts to see all of our scenic parks.

It already has me looking forward to the Summer. We're looking into Archery in the Parks and have our eye on different events listed on the DNR Events calendar. There's plans to head to Ely, so we will likely hit a few parks in that area of the state as well. Just looking into these activities and plannng visits to the various parks has given me a new appreciation for the vast efforts of our DNR to host programs and take care of our wilderness. It's stunning.

What MN State Parks are you looking forward to visiting this year?

Park 1. Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area

For my first visit to a State Park or Recreation area, I decided to keep it close and enjoy the MN Valley State Recreation Area near the Louisville Swamp Unit.

We headed out on what was supposed to be a sunny, warm Spring day in Minnesota. Of course, it started out as a crisp, cool 35 degree morning when we arrived at the parking area which is conveniently located adjacent to the Renaissance Festival. This assisted me with finding the correct road to turn off of 169. After grabbing the camera and backpack, we took off for a hike down the Mazomani Trail toward the bluff overlook site. (For a larger view, please click on the images below.)

Along the way, we spotted various animal tracks, including what looks to be a dog. Pets are allowed at the recreation area as long as they are leashed at all times.

The trail conditions on this day were a mix of frozen and muddy. We walked the easy 1.25 miles to the bluff overlook before it was just too cold for my co-adventurer to continue. While there, we stopped to rest on a park bench and check out the migrating birds flying through the skies and resting in the water below. 

As we arrived back at the parking lot, we were approached by a wildlife observer who was new to the park and wanted to know about the wildlife we observed and whether there were any large observation areas nearby. We informed him about the overlook area, to which he went back to his van for a large telescopic lens to observe the migrating birds in the valley. I definitely would come back and visit this MN recreation area to hike some of its 47 miles of trails. 

It's worth noting as well, the park offers campgrounds and an equestrian campground and trails for those interested in horseback riding or spending a night or two in the area. According to the MN DNR website, the main campgrounds are closed this year, but the horse campgrounds will be open in mid-May. To check out more information on this specific area, please visit the DNR website.

So many State Parks to Explore

Minnesota is full of a lot of great things: a great local music scene in Minneapolis/St. Paul, great craft beers (hello Surly!) and a great State Parks system with a variety of educational programs and hiking trails. As an amateur photographer I wanted to give myself a challenge and decided capturing images of all of Minnesota's State Parks would be a good place to start.

Growing up, I spent a lot of time in the outdoors with my family during our weekend camping trips. As an adult, whether it's been taking a road trip to Glacier National Park or spending a year in New Zealand, I've always felt the need to be connected with the outdoors and nature. Whenever things got stressful in Wellington, I'd ask my friend to take me 4 hours away to see Mount Taranaki (Mt. Egmont) for a relaxing weekend (pictured below.)





This photography challenge is a way for me to combine my love of nature with my desire to work on my photography skills. I'm hoping that those I love will join me on this journey and it will lead to a lot of fun road trips and adventures together.

I'd like to capture images throughout the year, in order to show the wonderful range of seasons we have here in Minnesota. It's really something to appreciate.