travel beyond the obvious
To visit Great River Bluffs State Park near Winona, Minnesota, is to enter a world where rugged bluffs are covered with a mix of woodlands and rare goat prairies and easy hiking trails lead to Read More …
Minnesota’s Big Bog State Recreation Area is best known for the mile-long boardwalk that takes visitors into the odd world of the largest peat bog in the lower 48 states. Expect to see carnivorous plants, Read More …
Minnesota’s Interstate Park is both gorgeous and fascinating in any season. The park’s towering cliffs, mysterious potholes, dainty wildflowers, and colorful fall leaves make a visit to the scenic Saint Croix River all that much Read More …
Leaf season is here, so it’s time to take a fall color road trip. One of the best (and shortest!) leaf peeping routes around the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul can be found Read More …
Fall in Frontenac State Park is a wonderful time and place to enjoy the brilliant colors of Minnesota’s mixed hardwood forests. Experience the beauty of fall in Minnesota’s Frontenac State Park Fall in Minnesota can Read More …
Scenic State Park, located in northern Minnesota’s beautiful Lake Country, features glistening lakes surrounded by forested hillsides. It has a bit of all the things that make this part of Minnesota special. Exploring Scenic State Read More …
Clues to the past at Thomson Pioneer Cemetery There are lots of reasons for me to love Jay Cooke State Park: beautiful fall foliage (or spring flowers), weird geology, rushing cascades, easy-to-reach scenic overlooks, and Read More …
Fall at Jay Cooke State Park Minnesota’s Jay Cooke State Park is spectacular in any season, but it really shines when the leaves begin to glow with fall color. I’ve seen Jay Cooke in winter Read More …
Saint Croix State Park is one of those places that isn’t really that far away, but isn’t right along the way to anywhere either. The fact that it is in a rather out-of-the-way location (and Read More …
As the USA expanded and industrialized during the 19th century, steam powered sternwheelers were the workhorses of the nation’s inland waterways. Many were basic in design, with minimal thought given to aesthetics; a few, however, Read More …
It took me until last summer to discover the rushing waters of Cascade River State Park, but once I did, it became one of my favorite discoveries of the summer. Exploring the cascades of the Read More …
After a bit of lovely early (too-early) spring weather, we are back to snow here in Minnesota. But that bit of warmth was enough to get me thinking about spring flowers — particularly snow-white trilliums. Read More …
I’m not sure why, but in all the times I’ve driven by over the years, I never pulled off the highway to visit Minnesota’s Jay Cooke State Park. That changed recently, when I made a Read More …
I’ve never been much of an outdoor adventurer, so locating native orchids in the wilds of Minnesota has always had more appeal in the abstract than in reality. However, a photo class at the end Read More …
Fall took its time arriving this year, teasing me with the promise of brilliant color while remaining green for an exceptionally long time. This was true of Buffalo River State Park (located near Moorhead in Read More …
The trees are finally turning in Minnesota, but I haven’t had many opportunities to get out and photograph them. Fortunately I have some great fall images left from last year, so I’ve gathered a few Read More …
Fall is in the air again this week, so it seems like a good time to take a virtual visit to Mille Lacs Kathio State Park in north central Minnesota. The park was filled with Read More …
Located in the rolling hills of southeastern Minnesota, Nerstrand Big Woods State Park is a tiny remnant of a once vast woodland ecosystem. Nerstrand Big Woods is a small park laced with hiking trails, making Read More …
Monson Lake is an unusual state park. We notice this even before arriving on a perfect fall day in late September, following an unpaved road that cuts through fields still awaiting harvest. It is as Read More …
At the end of September Minnesota’s string of perfect fall weather was interrupted by a frustrating number of days with wind and rain. The timing was terrible, as trees around the state were just getting Read More …
We took a bit of time to explore the rolling prairies of central Minnesota last week, spending much of our time at lovely Glacial Lakes State Park. The park is located in an area known Read More …
We took the long way back to the Twin Cities last Monday, wandering through villages and state parks in central Minnesota. Along the way, we stopped (for the first time ever) at Sibley State Park Read More …
Fall is when Minnesota really shines; when clear blue skies and brightly colored leaves can be found throughout the state. Yesterday I was out leaf-peeping in Central Minnesota. I’ll have full postings on all of Read More …
I usually drive past Split Rock Lighthouse on Lake Superior’s North Shore without stopping; after all, I’ve been there before. Of course, that was more than 20 years ago and on this particular July day Read More …