Posts Tagged With: state parks

Split Rock and Gooseberry in winter

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Crystal

Split Rock Lighthouse is said to be one of the most photographed spots in Minnesota, as well as one of the most photographed lighthouses in the U.S.

Split Rock is a Minnesota State Park as well as a Minnesota Historical Society historic site.

Two years ago, we decided to take a day trip to the North Shore. I had applied for a position with MNHS and with that organization on my mind, I wanted to see one of the historic sites that’s not in the Twin Cities – and it was a good excuse to add two stamps to our state parks passport. (And to visit Betty’s Pies on the way.)

Construction of Split Rock began in 1907 after several deadly shipwrecks on Lake Superior, including a late November 1905 storm that killed dozens and damaged or destroyed more than 20 ships. This map shows 29 wrecks.

The lighthouse itself is closed during the winter, so we didn’t get to climb up to the beacon, but we were able to get up-close outside…

…and to see a beautiful, sunny view of Lake Superior.

We left the lighthouse and started off on a very cold hike through the park.

Being January, the rocks were frozen and snow-covered, although the lake wasn’t iced over.

And then we were treated to a gorgeous view of the lighthouse and the lake.

I was enchanted by this island to the south, with a pastel sky in the background as the sun went down.

Now, switching back to the first park of the day, Gooseberry Falls, which was completely frozen over.

A view from the top of the falls, looking down:

The Highway 61 bridge over the Gooseberry River:

Ice climbers:

We didn’t stay long at this park, pretty as it was, because we wanted to leave plenty of time for Split Rock. Since then we stopped here once again but only as an afterthought and only for a quick hike out to see the unfrozen falls. Soon, we need to plan a real visit and explore the rest of this popular park.

Date visited: January 25, 2014

More photos

Categories: Lake County | Tags: state parks | Leave a comment

Minnesota state parks in springtime

Posted on June 2, 2015 by Crystal

I’m always on the lookout for wildflowers, so at the first sign of spring, we headed out to four parks to see what we could find.

Wild River

I had a day off in early April and headed an hour north of the Twin Cities to Wild River State Park by myself. It was too early for wildflowers! But there were very clear views of the river and woods since none of the vegetation had grown in yet. It was a great day for a solo walk; I saw only one pair of runners during this 1.5-hour visit.

Quiet path through the woods.

Down by the St. Croix River.

Bright orange mushrooms popping out around brown leaves

These orange mushrooms (I’ve already forgotten their name) were a bright spot of color on the mostly brown ground.

Wild River Canoe Rental building, boarded up

Waiting for warmer weather (and tourists).

Wild River State Park

One hour north of St. Paul
Date visited: April 13, 2015

Sibley

Maybe it was the dreary weather the day we visited…

Lazy, hazy, crazy days of… early spring.

maybe it was the fact that we got lost more than once on the trails (which could use better signs, in my opinion)…

Which way does this path go – left, straight, or right?

maybe because it was still too early for wildflowers (not the park’s fault)…

The only green the entire trip.

but I quickly decided this wasn’t my favorite state park. Still, there were things to enjoy along the way.

First loon sighting of the season!

Many buildings built by the Veterans Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

Observation tower, viewed from the ground

Lookout at the top of Mount Tom, the tallest spot in the area.

Sibley State Park

Two hours west of Minneapolis; 20 minutes north of Willmar
Date visited: April 18, 2015

Carley

Carley State Park is famous for Virginia bluebells – and in May, there are millions.

The weather was much more pleasant for this wildflower trip. Plus, we actually got to see wildflowers.

Yes, I WILL take the wildflower trail.

Bluebell-lined path.

Several false rue anemone along the river

There were at least as many of these white flowers – false rue anemone – as there were bluebells.

Non-accessible walk across the stream.

Climb the stairs.

Carley State Park

1.5 hours south of St. Paul
Date visited: May 2, 2015

Nerstrand-Big Woods

As long as we were in the area, we stopped by for a quick visit to try again to find dwarf trout lilies. And we did!

A small white flower among much larger green leaves

Dwarf trout lily is so tiny, it’s easy to miss.

Marsh marigolds on both sides of a small stream

Marsh marigolds, on the other hand, aren’t easily missed.

And, of course, Hidden Falls is a must-see attraction.

Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park

1 hour south of St. Paul
Date visited: May 2, 2015

Now, on to summer adventures!

Camping at Tettegouche State Park

Posted on August 12, 2014 by Crystal

It had been years since I’d been camping, so when a friend told me she booked a campsite at Tettegouche State Park, I jumped at the chance to tag along with her and a third friend. This beautiful park borders Lake Superior and also includes the highest waterfall in Minnesota.

The park is outside Silver Bay, which is a little more than an hour north of Duluth. We didn’t realize that this rest stop at the park’s entrance also contains the Tettegouche visitors center, so we drove right by and had to come back. It’s a brand-new building that opened just a few weeks prior to our visit, so hopefully they will add signs soon that make it clear.

We reserved campsite 25, a walk-in site, so we had to carry our gear down a short shared path. Site 25 just happened to be the exact spot where two of us stayed with another friend 13 years ago! I climbed up onto the giant rock at the site to re-enact a picture from 2001.

Campsites 24-25 signs, and two pictures of a woman sitting on a rock

We arrived in late afternoon so first we set up our tents and unpacked our gear…

…and then made dinner over the campfire. We also had hot breakfasts – including grilled toast – each morning.

The first morning we hiked to High Falls, which was close enough to our campsite that we could hear the water during the quiet nights.

We approached the falls from one side, then walked along the trail further up the Baptism River to a bridge to cross to the other side.

Up close on the other side.

It was late morning when we reached the picturesque bottom of the falls and there were lots of other visitors, so I was lucky to get this shot without people – though you may notice a swimming dog at the left. There were also some human swimmers.

I can’t resist admiring wildflowers, and it seemed like I stopped every 10 feet along the trail through the woods to take another photo. This is one-flowered pyrola, which faces the ground so I had to get on my knees to see its face. Just one of dozens of wildflowers blooming at Tettegouche that weekend.

We also saw some wildlife, including this pack of at least four garter snakes.

We relaxed the rest of the day after our long hike – and of course finished with another campfire. It was too dark to get good pictures of roasting marshmallows, but no camping trip is complete without s’mores. In addition to the traditional Hersheys-and-marshmallow, we also tried some other variations, including marshmallow Peep with Nutella or Reese’s peanut butter cup.

The next morning we took a foggy walk along Lake Superior to Shovel Point.

I didn’t notice whether there was a sign that advised visitors of the number of stairs on this trail – which was probably a good thing!

Lake Superior’s “natural air conditioning” was in effect, which was lucky for us given the workout on the stairs. Even with the fog, the view was worth the effort – though I couldn’t tell where the lake ended and the fog began!

On our way back, the fog started to lift.

We had a clear view of the former natural sea arch, which unfortunately collapsed in 2010.

Great weekend of hiking and sightseeing at this gorgeous state park.

Tettegouche State Park

Visited: July 18-20, 2014

Categories: Lake County | Tags: state parks, summer | 1 Comment

Hunting for the rare dwarf trout lily

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Crystal

The Minnesota dwarf trout lily is a federally endangered wildflower that grows in only three Minnesota counties (Rice, Goodhue, and Steele) and nowhere else in the world. Nerstrand Big Woods is the only state park, and perhaps the only public location, where visitors can see this rare flower.

One late Saturday afternoon in April 2012, I was traveling through the Nerstrand area and decided to try to find this special wildflower. Even though it was getting dark so the blooms were closed for the night, I was excited to find lots of white trout lilies:

…until I got home and did some more research, only to learn that the park is also home to regular white trout lilies. Since I’m familiar with yellow trout lily, which is about the same size as what I found, my heart sank to realize that I had not found the dwarf variety.

The next spring, after a visit to Faribault, my husband and I headed just 10 miles northeast to the state park. This time, I knew that the white flowers we saw were not dwarf, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying them:

Fast-forward to 2014. Surely, the third time would be the charm, right? But it was mostly cloudy with a few scattered sprinkles the one day we could head to Nerstrand Big Woods − not exactly prime trout lily weather, so none of the flowers were open. It was nearly impossible to see any buds, but we searched anyway. Finding one by identifying its leaves wasn’t an option since they are identical to the leaves of the regular trout lily, so we would need to find a bud.

We found several closed buds that could have been dwarfs. But “they” say that if you find one, you’ll know, so almost certainly this is not one:

In its closed state, with a shorter stem than ones that were definitely regulars, I’d call it a “medium trout lily.” If it were open, it would be more clear. But because we didn’t know, it probably wasn’t what we were looking for, so we kept walking. There were plenty of leaves to study:

Any other day, I would have been thrilled to see all of the other wildflowers: my personal favorite, bloodroot, plus Dutchman’s breeches, marsh marigold, wild ginger, cutleaf toothwort:

But this day, nothing but the dwarf trout lily would do. Fortunately, the sun was beginning to shine, so the flowers were starting to open. We remembered seeing a DNR camera on the boardwalk, likely pointed at one of the dwarf lilies. Sure enough, after retracing our steps to the camera, we found one. The petals weren’t fully open, but it was definite: