Minnesota Hiking Club #15 - Itasca State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#15 - Itasca State Park

Date Hiked: March 2nd, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Glendalough State Park, Lake Bemidji State Park, La Salle Lake State Recreation Area

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 4.00

Is that graphic representative of the majesty that is Itasca State Park? Probably not, but a lot of people younger than me haven't seen one of those outside of a Clark Kent super spinny locker room solo flash mob, so it's pretty unique nonetheless.

This is one of those places I'm gonna have to revisit. Not just because it's the second state park in the history of this country, not just because Mary Gibbs is a freaking badass, not just because of the Mississippi River headwaters or the Lost 40 or the Hiking Club trail itself or the sheer immense size of this park necessitating four different entry points, but because after three hikes and considerable commute times, it was already twilight and I was on autopilot at best. I couldn't even find the Passport stamp, though I imagine it's inside the visitor's center. Which, of course, was locked because I got there after 4 and it started getting dark, and because it's me visiting a place in this speedrun so it had to be closed. 

The fact that this place has a Hiking Club trail at all is not only a mere afterthought, but almost seems beneath it. There are seven state parks/recreation areas that don't have Hiking Club trails for whatever reason, but if this was one of them simply because it's Itasca and Itasca don't need to join no trendy clubs, I'd also believe it. If the Minnesota State Parks were each a theatre queer backstage at a performance, Itasca is the one with her own light setup and a cigarette in her hand, saying "watch and learn or you'll never work this show again, dahling." Don't let her age fool you, she's a shark and she'll eat you alive if you don't keep your wits about you. 

Twilight was falling fast, everything was icy, I couldn't find the stamp for this park (or La Salle Lake SRA for that matter), so I could either dwell on making the boosty parts of the brain happy with ink on a page, or I could go get a password, even if I wasn't sure I was supposed to just yet. W-codes and all, but there was no one to ask and I was already there and Itasca is no short commute. 

This New Hampshire-shaped loop is a pale blue dot in the universe that is Itasca's massive state park. I was amazed by how much infrastructure there was in this place. Multiple places to visit, entire inns and restaurants, and the echoing voices of how many people likely flood this place when the leaves are green and people can feel their faces. So I'd have to come back and give myself an entire day to experience it, but also choose that time carefully and make sure I had an out anytime I needed it. Autism is fun sometimes. 

It's on the longer side, it's got elevation gain, it's a mystical, ethereal setting far beyond what our species deserves. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #16 - Gooseberry Falls State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#16 - Gooseberry Falls State Park

Date Hiked: December 22nd, 2024

Other Hikes That Day: Split Rock Lighthouse State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 3.92

This is where it all started, in more ways than one.

Yes, this was my first stamp and my first Hiking Club trail of this speedrun, but it's more than that. This was the first Minnesota State Park I ever visited, years ago before I even lived here. I walked on a waterfall for the first time while I was on spring break from university. An unseasonably warm day, I was in a t-shirt and standing on a frozen waterfall on a lovely March day. That was the first time I even knew about the North Shore, let alone Split Rock Lighthouse, Two Harbors, or anything else. I owe Jerry a great deal for taking that road trip with me. He didn't have to go with me that day, I was just his kid's friend and he'd met me one time. Yet, he not only did that but wrote me a letter of recommendation for grad school. Wherever he is, I hope he's well. 

I say this was my first Hiking Club trail in more ways than one too. 

The Hiking Club and Passport booklets had been sitting on my table. A brief foray into a hiking-specific Instagram led me to discover that the Hiking Club was even a thing, and when I saw there were two options, I was a bit extra (as always) and decided to do both. It wasn't until I got the yearlong pass that I opened up the book and started figuring out where to go. Most of the names I didn't recognize, as I'm not from here and have mostly traveled along the eastern border of the state, both north and south. The two names (other than Fort Snelling, it was winter and I couldn't go there) that I knew: Gooseberry Falls and Split Rock Lighthouse. Those I could do.

But also, I'd hiked this exact trail before without knowing I could get credit for it. 

On a long Geocaching hike when the weather was perfect, I wanted to see Gooseberry but also needed to be far away from the hoards of tourists. I saw a single Geocache way out in the park, and the only way to get to it was to cross the bridge over the falls and follow a trail out to a cliff. I got that find, and the view I would see from that giant ridge down into the valley looked very familiar when I did my first Hiking Club trail. Though this time the trail was covered in ice, and those cliffs were a lot scarier upon realizing one bad slip and my booklets would remain forever one and only. 

Yes, this is personal and anecdotal, but what the hell else am I gonna write about Gooseberry Falls State Park that nobody else has? Multiple tiers of waterfalls, frozen in the winter, a ubiquitous rest stop always. The Hiking Club trail is on the side without all the people, tread carefully. It's a long way down. It's awesome. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #17 - Interstate State Park

Minnesota Hiking Club

#17 - Interstate State Park

Date Hiked: December 31st, 2024

Other Hikes That Day: None

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 3.92

Everything I said about the New Year's Day trilogy in the previous entry on Nerstrand-Big Woods? Yeah, run that back, but make it a day earlier. 

We good? We good. Okay. 

Only the third Hiking Club trail trip, fourth stop overall, and it was somewhere relatively close. The lone St. Croix line trail that wasn't W-coded, I just wanted something to do on New Year's Eve that didn't involve thinking or personal insight, and instead I got a truly badass hike at a time when most people weren't in the parks. What an interesting revelation, I think in retrospect and likely noticed at the time: if I do them all on days like this, I won't have to deal with crowds, noise, people, bluetooth speakers, mosquitos, ticks, people, or any of that shit. 

Also, isn't this about where the Glacial potholes are? Holy shit, it is! This ain't gonna be a down-and-back, it's gonna be a down, check out the super cool adjacent park that is also usually super crowded, then head back. 

And thank goodness I didn't need the ice spikes on this one, because I didn't have them yet and that could've gotten dangerous. 

When I think of hiking near the St. Croix, this is what I imagine. Rocky cliffs, steep descents, aerial views of the river, all of these melding together into an experience that transcends arbitrary state lines and gives one a taste of feeling infinite for a while. 

But don't go in thinking this is an easy walk, ice spikes being necessary or not.

Interstate State Park might feel redundant to say, and even to type, but it's a legit experience. Tucked right in along the Minnesota side of the border, up in the cliffs before the road down to Taylor's Falls, the hike runs right along that road. Immediately the signs will advise you to be cautious about the rocks and be aware of the conditions, because the trail is narrow, steep, and covered in smooth rocks that only tolerate your existence and presence until they decide "nope, not gonna do that anymore. I'm a rock, not my problem." Climbing isn't inherently necessary, at least on this portion, but it's exceedingly obvious that it's an activity people do on the slopes right next to the trail. Why wouldn't it be? There are people who see giant slabs of rock above a river and think "I'ma climb that." Of all the places in Minnesota with that possibility, especially if heading out to Colorado or Washington isn't plausible in that moment (dammit), this is an option. It may not reach the same heights, but the difficulty is there regardless.

You've probably already beat me to it, but it's Minnesota, you know what that means.... GLACIERS! Glaciers forming river valleys and not repairing their potholes, infrastructure has always been unpopular, whether it be crumbling roads or ice giving rocks the finger. Don't drive over these potholes, or you better learn the phrase "embrace the void" pretty fast. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #18 - Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#18 - Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park

Date Hiked: January 1st, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Rice Lake State Park, Sakatah Lake State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 3.92

It was New Year's Day, and I was alone.

We established that in the previous two entries, but it is impossible to talk about this hike without that context. 

I don't care about the World's Biggest Non-Event, but for the previous two years, I had spent that time with my special people. For reasons that are irrelevant to this medium, I was not, and it would've been really easy to be swallowed by that pit. This day is what led to the January 4th trilogy, which as you will likely note, none of those have yet reached this list. And somewhere along the way, I decided to do all of them in a single season. 

But this trilogy of hikes was just a means of not falling into a pit of despair and longing. It became mystical, and though I didn't stop missing my people at all, I found something to do with the energy, and that's the theme of this entire series. This is how I spent the time and energy that came out of being far away from my special people, and a descent into dense woods and frozen waterfalls truly kickstarted the concept. This was, by far, the best of these three. 

All three are within a reasonable range. Before I started going to the one farthest away and working my way back as a concept, Nerstrand-Big Woods was the closest of the three, and I don't think I even decided to do all three when I initially set out. i just wanted a place to be that wasn't in my own head, listening to the sound of water swallowing me and finding it even ironically endearing. 

Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park preserves magical forest in an area of the state where that kind of landscape isn't expected if you don't know where to look for it. I know I tend to be sentimental and a bit flowery with my language with the parks I really like, but this one truly is descending into a New World Fangorn without murder by swallowing or stomping, naturally. The loop shape isn't complicated, looking like a stone giant champion bowler trophy, but its sub-3 mile length is deceiving, for it is not a quick jaunt, especially once ice on the terrain is factored in.

The first notable sight along the trail is the waterfall, and early in the morning on a lonely New Year's Day, it didn't make everything okay, but it allowed me to forget about the gnawing in my soul for a little while. The fog of the latter two trails this day wasn't quite as present, but it gave the woods of the big and Nerstrand variety an even more ethereal feeling than the circumstances of the day already provided. 

This journey was never meant to be some kind of diary, as the people reading this initially are already aware of the emotional context, but this Hiking Club speedrun was never just about completing the hikes themselves either. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #19 - Lake Shetek State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#19 - Lake Shetek State Park

Date Hiked: February 9th, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Camden State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 3.58

You know what? I'm happy that Fort Snelling and Lake Shetek are back to back. Yeah, I said it, you can't stop me. It's not just the subjectivity of this ranking system, and how fallible it can be, and how it's entirely dependent on how I was feeling and what I was experiencing at the time, and how even though I prefer trails with distance and elevation gain these two ended up in the highest third of the countdown. On the surface, it makes absolutely no sense. With the rating system the way it is, it shouldn't make any sense. This entire hike took 20 minutes at most because I had to cross a causeway with winds that would've frozen Superman in place at the Fortress of Solitude in order to walk around a flat, tiny island, then get back in my car, hopefully not with any parts of me breaking off and shattering like icicles made of glass for Hollywood effect, and going the hell home while trying to remember why I was doing this to myself on purpose. 

But...

The hike is on Loon Island. 

On a day where I needed a serotonin boost so badly that I could've invented a Zoloft popsicle; on a day where people from Jupiter (Jupitarians? Jupiterese? Jup-Lords? Jupanese? Jujuwhawhats?) would've considered it too intense for a winter vacation; on a day where I visited a snowy place named Camden and didn't immediately remind myself to get a tetanus shot; on a day where nobody had any business doing a Hiking Club trail, I saw that I was hiking on a place called Loon Island, and instantly, everything was a little bit more okay for a while.

Isn't that what all the advertisements tell you that nature is supposed to do? 

Get out in nature, it's an anti-depressant, it's a cleansing of the soul, it's the therapy around you, isn't that what they say? (Take your meds, drink your water, don't stop those to do these things, please.) 

The barren landscape evoked the opening of Fargo, especially season one. The frozen lake surrounding each side of the causeway led me to believe that Mr. Wrench and Mr. Numbers might've had Wish Malvo upside down with a big doofy bandage on his forehead, barely aware that he pissed off the wrong people at a strip club before he went nighty-night in the hidey-hole of icy death. I even made a short video with the Fargo music playing while I did nothing but walk on this causeway because I am nothing if not a referential tramp of the trails. I'd share it, but every time I've tried to share a video, it's been a failure of Don Chumpf proportions. 

This hike is so short, My Adventure Challenge would barely let it qualify toward the 365 patch because it counts for the minimum distance necessary in order to be a valid hike. Nothing about it makes any sense whatsoever. 

But, Loon Island. Game Over. Argument: Invalid. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #20 - Fort Snelling State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#20 - Fort Snelling State Park

Date Hiked: February 3rd, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: None

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 3.58

What on earth is a completely flat trail doing this high on the list? 

Everything is not only subjective, but context-heavy on this countdown. 

Like with Fort Ridgely, I cannot emphasize enough that the Hiking Club trail is by far not the most important thing about this place. Fort Snelling is a place of historical significance that is not for me to describe or delve into. It is not my place. 

But hey, I wasn't dodging horseshit, so Battle of the Forts: won. 

Fort Snelling State Park is basically also Historical Fort Snelling. In the biggest population center of the state by a significant margin, I doubt there's anyone in the metro who doesn't know what Fort Snelling is, even if they don't know why it's important. How can you miss it? It's a giant-ass fort on a ridge on the river, which is why it was practical when it was built! The state park is technically separate, but even the surrounding area is also incredibly important to Indigenous people, far beyond the atrocity that happened there. Without giving a spoiler, I am very glad to see that even the Hiking Club password has been updated in recent times to reflect that. 

A light snow was falling. It was cold but not polar vortex cold. The snow was fresh enough that either the W-code didn't apply, or it's Fort Snelling and nobody cared. I felt a little guilty about this one, but I saw people running on this loop, so this was the one time I was willing to make the exception to break it. To be perfectly honest, I really wanted to knock off a password and a stamp, but I also didn't want to go anywhere. Fort Snelling is less than ten minutes away, and I had it in my back pocket for that exact reason: the mid-speedrun blues, because that's a thing that makes sense, right?

It's a midrange hike, so though there isn't any elevation gain, there's at least some distance to be earned for the Hiking Club booklet. The Fort Snelling Hiking Club trail itself is the Pike Island loop, which in the spring last year was completely off-limits due to the confluence of the two rivers essentially becoming one big fuck-off rapids rampage. There are a litany of hikes in this exact area, and I've done all of them. Crosby Farms, Pike Island, Hidden Falls, the Greenway, Big Rivers regional, so I've been on one while photographing the other. It is a gorgeous area, and in the quiet snow, knowing it'll be too packed and loud to move on all fronts soon, I had an easy hike that was absolutely magical. 

The Pike Island loop isn't the best hike in the park, as it's once again a sampler. But getting to the point where the rivers meet and looking out toward St. Paul with the ridges and woods on each side, in what is somehow the middle of the metro, it's pretty freaking awesome. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #21 - Frontenac State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#21 - Frontenac State Park

Date Hiked: January 25th, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: None

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 3.50

The snow and frozen water from the views of the bluffs felt apocalyptic, which considering my experience much later with Great River Bluffs State Park, ended up being oddly appropriate. 

Minnesota in January is not a pleasant time. Everything looks dead and brown, the bright sunny days are contrasted with temperatures that people aren't supposed to live in, and any situations or conditions are exacerbated by the depths of depression these times can induce. 

Without going into personal detail, I was mired in those depths more than usual, and the apocalyptic vibes only made me feel more irrelevant and invisible than I already did. 

Which is not to say this wasn't an excellent hike; far from it! It wouldn't be ranked this high if I had negative associations with it. The negative associations were with myself and my situation at the time rather than the only form of escapism that was able to temporarily divert my focus. Even stopping by John A. Latsch State Park afterward, which in the winter was little more than a picnic table and a cork board, was better than my reality at this time. Everything felt far away and distant, and I desperately needed something I couldn't have because it was a thousand miles from where I stood. 

Frontenac State Park and its Hiking Club Trail was a way to try to forget about life for a while and stand on some giant-ass rocks rather than pining for springtime and what would come with it. I still pined, but at least I was doing something while pining rather than sinking into a pit. I missed my special people so badly that I didn't even know what to do with myself once the trail was done. But I did finish it, I did get my stamp, and the sun did rise the next day, for the eight-and-a-half minutes that daylight lasts in January in Minnesota, but rise it did nonetheless. 

The elevation gain at the beginning of the trail is somewhat steep, though nearby Barn Bluff condenses the rise a lot more. To be fair, it was probably more than 70 degrees warmer, so the external factors were different flavors of difficulty. 

Frontenac State Park's Hiking Club trail combines deep woods and the rocky bluffs for which the southeastern Minnesota area is known, though it feels like more of a sampler platter than a main course. That isn't a bad thing, but the trail itself wants you to explore more than the route to get your password. Which, to be fair, you probably should if you like this particular kind of hiking. The heart-o-gram with a tail trail has a loop with a stem at the beginning/ending, and it presents views, descents into woods, and... you guessed it... Information on GLACIERS! Can't escape it, not in these here parts! 

I know it sounds like I was sad on this hike. That's because I was. Not even escapism can be the full solace I need sometimes. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #22 - Maplewood State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#22 - Maplewood State Park

Date Hiked: February 2nd, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Buffalo River State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 3.50

This isn't the first time the elements absolutely kicked my ass, making the completion of the Hiking Club trail infinitely more difficult, but it is the first time I thanked the park for the privilege. 

After the hike at Buffalo River State Park, where the cold and wind were major factors but the trail-based factors weren't as comparably difficult, I knew I was in trouble before I even got to the trailhead of Maplewood State Park's Hiking Club trail. Despite this, I was excited to do it, given that I had an anecdote in my head about the place that had nothing to do with the park itself. I called it the "almost-first meeting place" with someone lovely who had suggested it before realizing it was a bit farther away than the city in Minnesota of the same name. 

I could've used a little Maplewood of the summer and closer proximity on this hike. 

It isn't the most difficult terrain I've navigated, nor the iciest or snowiest. But factor in the 6+ miles of distance with the considerable elevation changes, then mix in snow deep enough to make every step more exhausting, and that 6+ mile trek starts to feel more like 15. I'm once again aware of the fact that I did this to myself and nobody else suggested or insisted upon it, but having a park like this nearly to myself the entire time I was there is something of which I'm incredibly doubtful most people who visit get to experience. I bet this massive state park is exceptionally busy during the greener and warmer months. The options of activities alone must bring about crowds that fill beyond the parking spaces available. Even though I've lived in Minnesota for 8 years, I know very little about this portion of the state, but I can confidently hypothesize these ideas based purely on the awe-inspiring perspectives the Hiking Club trail offers.

The 6.2 miles the booklet lists seems to shortchange the actual distance a bit, and with nearly 600 feet of elevation gain, the Argentina-shaped loop traverses through woods, hills, lake views, and campgrounds that, while empty on this day in early February, must have waitlists and queues in order to have the privilege. I don't blame them at all either, a few days of immersion in a place like this must do wonders for the soul when the world is on fire. 

This wouldn't be an easy hike without the aforementioned factors, but it's up there with Manitou in these conditions. The snow was deep enough that spikes were pretty much irrelevant, as it was trudging rather than walking atop the path. The snow was heavy enough that picking up my boots took more strength and energy due to the resistance and weight. Though I needed more out-of-breath rest breaks than usual, though my body ached in ways it usually didn't, though I was cold and sweating simultaneously somehow, Maplewood State Park is absolutely stunning, ethereal, and gorgeous. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #23 - Wild River State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#23 - Wild River State Park

Date Hiked: March 14th, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: William O'Brien State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 3.42

The final day, the penultimate stamp, concluding a series of winter hikes on a day that was over 70 degrees, but would drop to 45 by the next day because Minnesota, my speedrunning the Minnesota Hiking Club journey was near its end. 

My gratitude to myself was infinite for saving two of the closest parks for last, rather than trying to trek all over the northwest corner or several hours on the North Shore, because driving barely over an hour to Wild River seemed to take as long as some of those all-day commutes. Only Wild River and William O'Brien remained, and the latter looked closer but longer, so I decided to hit that on the way back after Wild River. 

No coat, scarf, hat, or gloves were necessary on this day, which made me feel underprepared and silly. Yes, hiking in short sleeves after a reasonable commute is when I felt silly, rather than trudging through three feet of snow to get 1.3 miles of credit by hiking 4+ miles to keep my heart from exploding. It made sense at the time. 

Wild River State Park is one of the W-coded St. Croix line, starting with Afton, moving up to William O'Brien, Wild River, and then St. Croix. All were off limits until the snow and ice turned to mud more slippery than ice, but more on that in the William O'Brien edition, because Wild River wasn't too bad. That and half of it was paved, thus making the muddification significantly more difficult on the part of the terrain. Among the most simple shapes of the loop trails, dare I say it makes nearly a perfect rectangle: two horizontal lines with the entirety of the elevation gain on the short vertical ends. I must've done the descent to riverside where most are finishing off the trail because I found the password almost immediately. 

There were people there; a sight even more unusual than my lack of layers or my cheeks being red in the shape of Eric Draven's makeup. I overheard one person ask another how bad the mud was, and as I'd just reached the end, I heard the other say it wasn't bad. I silently agreed. She didn't ask me, but I nodded to myself the same way I usually do when I know the answer to a question I overhear. I don't get it, I just no longer question these things. This is just what E.A. Moon does. 

After I'd found the correct parking lot, which followed two wrong turns and more potholes than Flint in 2017, I wrapped up the 3+ miles of the Wild River State Park's Hiking Club trail feeling good. Half hike by the river, half paved former mining trail, I only had William O'Brien to go, and how hard could that possibly be? Never mind that this was the 15th Hiking Club trail I'd done in a week, what could go wrong? It's not like heat could affect me...

Minnesota Hiking Club #24 - Crow Wing State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#24 - Crow Wing State Park

Date Hiked: January 7th, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Charles A. Lindbergh State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 3.42

It would be very easy to say that the January 4th trilogy of hikes were what led me to attempting this single winter speedrun of the Minnesota Hiking Club, especially since zero of those three have been listed yet, so the implication of how I felt about them should be obvious by now. 

But, that also wouldn't be accurate, as the trilogy was more of a single day mission statement (more on that when they come up) than the beginning of an attempt to complete the entire club before the yellow-rumped warblers start arriving in the trees. Crow Wing State Park, and specifically the photograph above, was where I truly started to feel like I was onto something with this odyssey and how it might be a unique experience to write about. And not just because the GPS tried to take me 20 minutes farther than the brown sign pointing to the left did, which was an early hint of rapid epic failure piles of sadness by a certain tech company, but that's a different travel series. 

After I unfortunately found out the loo was locked, the speed with which I intended to traverse this relatively short trail was considerable. This moment, at the confluence of the Crow Wing and Mississippi Rivers respectively, felt magical in a way that was hard to articulate. It took the words of someone important to me, who may very well be reading this, for it to truly process. An ethereal sky, a moment frozen in time, still waters where movement is more prevalent and observed; I was traversing in solitude and cold weather, but I wasn't just checking some name off a list with a stamp and a password. I was figuring out, on many levels, who I actually am; not who people wanted me to be, not who people thought I was, not who I was expected to embody, but the authentic and unfiltered Wanderloon that has always been there before the filters and societal programming interrupted or otherwise corrupted that image The E.A. Moon that writes to you of this journey in retrospect, not the one that set out to combat loneliness and seek new photographic waystones. Granted, that did happen, but I ended up with a lot more than I expected along this speedrun. 

I don't owe anyone the folding of myself that I was doing constantly in order to feel more socially acceptable or to fit someone else's definition of what identity means. I spent far too much of my life trying to be what and who people wanted me to be, but alone on these trails in the winter, my body and mind forced themselves out of those tiny boxes and Wanderloon energy radiated in a way I could no longer ignore. 

This simple, flat, beautiful hike didn't create that epiphany in a flash that I understood, but looking at that photo brought it all back in a tangible way in which I now flourish with infinite gratitude.

Minnesota Hiking Club #25 - Camden State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#25 - Camden State Park

Date Hiked: February 9th, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Lake Shetek State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 3.42

Being from the east coast, "state park" is not the first thing that comes to mind when I hear the name "Camden." Take that any way you want, but outside of the name, the two have nothing in common whatsoever. 

I went to university in Philadelphia, so my familiarity with the former is more than an internet meme. I'm not throwing shade either, but even without casting any judgment, a "walk through the snow in the woods" and "Urban Delaware Valley Metropolitan Area" are two very different experiences. 

I started this hike twice, because I initially left the parking lot without my ice spikes, but upon seeing the first descent, I quickly rectified that poor decision. Given how narrow and steep it got in a short amount of time, I'm very glad I did that, because in addition to the terrain, it was next to an open-flowing water source. Do the math with factoring in winter in Minnesota, and regardless of the weather on this particular day, scenes from the third act of Titanic come to mind. Spikes made a considerable difference in preventing me from growing icicles on my nose or throwing a diamond underwater instead of giving it to someone who could use it, so that's a plus. 

Camden is technically a ghost town, though one wouldn't likely find any evidence of such by visiting this park. Many spectres do haunt the deep immersion into the woods, and not just the actions of humanity's past. As the website lists, "buffalo, elk, prairie chickens, and golden eagles were an integral part of life here. They are gone now." It's hard to make this gorgeous hike without thinking of that, especially when one must walk right next to the edge of farmland on the Hiking Club trail. It's reminiscent of just how close protected land has to be carved out in order to not be completely overrun. 

Initially, I thought I might be headed to Split Rock Creek after this one, but considering the weather and snow factor, I opted for Lake Shetek and saved the southwest corner for another day, and you know how that went by now if you've read this far. The loop is shaped like an anteater sprinting toward the finish line at Canterbury, and at points it gets a bit confusing with several close trail junctions. The distance is on the shorter end, being just a bit over two miles, but the elevation gain is a factor, both in steepness and difficulty. Take your time on the aforementioned narrow rock descents, even if you're not dealing with ice; I don't imagine that fall would be pleasant in any weather. 

The latter portion of the trail edges private property and feels more like a prairie walk, so one gets to experience distinct landscapes in a short amount of time. With freshly fallen snow and the solitude these winter excursions brought about, the woods portion felt magical and ethereal, which likely led to my very favorable rating. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #26 - Scenic State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#26 - Scenic State Park

Date Hiked: February 24th, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Schoolcraft State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 3.33

This may sound like a brag but it's just a statement of how I work: I'm writing these travel essays the same way I hiked these parks: way faster than anyone asked me to for no other reason than I wanted to. I'm writing this on April 4th. When you are seeing this, it is obviously... not. I'm nothing if not consistent.

This was one of those hikes where I wondered why I was doing this to myself, but it turned out pretty well, comparatively at least. 

February 24th was an unseasonably warm day, and I chose to spend it going way up north to trudge through the snow because that's who I am as a person. Again, writing this two months in advance, it tracks. As I've no doubt detailed by this point, some parks are easily accessible in the winter months, some are gated off and require finding out what thigh-deep in snow feels like. This was... somewhere in the middle of those. 

While the gate was open, I'm not sure I parked in a real space, but no one else was there so it didn't matter a great deal. 

The snow was melting due to the weather, but not enough to make steps easier. Better than Franz Jevne, but taking more effort than walking on ground or on top of snow like Soudan; but the beauty and, dare I say... scenic nature of this park made up for how exhausting it was. I feel ridiculous saying that, but hey, it's not just a clever name. 

I imagine that when most people who have been here think of this park, it's about the swimming, canoeing, being on the lakeshore, or other activities that bring out the best of the summer's offerings. And it should, that's when most people choose to be there, and I can't emphasize enough that I don't blame them for that. My goal with these essays are not to chastise people for not hiking them through two feet of snow, but to offer the perspective of what it's like when no one else is there, as stated from the very beginning. That said, blue and green surroundings are not a prerequisite for being scenic either.

I long to see this place when I can hear loon tremolos and wails alike, though I'll have to choose my time carefully.  

This is not on the easier end of the Hiking Club trails, regardless of snow factor. There are two distinct parts that are separated by a junction, which is also probably easier to follow in times where creatures are awake and mosquito buffets are plentiful. Conversely, what is likely easier during occasions when touching grass is possible, that the loop in the woods half of the trail, was on veteran difficulty for reasons I've already stated. But the other half, which is a down-and-back excursion on a narrow peninsula, was tremendously easier than the flat loop because it was clear of almost all snow. Everything is perspective. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #27 - Kilen Woods State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#27 - Kilen Woods State Park

Date Hiked: February 14th, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Kilen Woods (but again, in reverse) State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 3.33

I don't even celebrate holidays, but this trek through the snow was enough to make me feel lonely and isolated regardless. 

A few days earlier when I'd intended to hit Split Rock Creek and Blue Mound before swinging back to this one on the way home, the flat tire left me with no possible way to mark this one off that day. Freshly re-tired and restless, I headed back to the southwest specifically for this park, which was less than three hours away, but after driving home several hundred miles on a spare on the aforementioned expedition, that was more welcome than usual. 

Admittedly, on this day I was in a pit of sadness, for reasons that aren't appropriate to this series. Escaping to the woods in solitude has been a coping mechanism of mine for a long time, but I needed more of a reprieve than usual due to the circumstances. Even in the passport journal, I described myself as a disaster, but I had a virtual date night to look forward to on a different day than usual. 

Kilen Woods State Park felt incredibly remote, or at least did until I made the drives to Savanna Portage or Lake Bronson respectively. This was good though, I wanted to feel invisible, like a spectre wandering in the snow drifts away from everything. I was also beginning to feel a bit restricted to the lengths of the Hiking Club trails. The multiple hike schedule to which I was keeping had 1-4 hikes no longer than 7 miles, whereas my style before the Hiking Club was a single hike but farther. My AllTrails totals weren't accumulating like they had, and while that matters to nobody but me, autism brain sees the comparison as a sign of failure. Never mind the fact that it's winter in Minnesota and 10-plus mile hikes are a lot less practical, clearly I should be out there as much as I was when there was no snow, ice, or cold to deal with. Thanks brain, I appreciate your negativity at a time where I already felt like a mess anyway. 

It started to snow, and there were no other parks within a reasonable distance, so when I finished the two miles, I turned around and hiked it in reverse. 

Kilen Woods State Park's Hiking Club trail isn't as long as some of the other woodsy and remote selections, but it does give more of a vibe of an actual hike than many in the catalogue. Through the dense woods, there are elevation changes, multiple landscapes, an overlook, seeing Iowa but being glad to not be there... The things one usually appreciates on a Minnesota hike. But, it is a park in Minnesota, so you know what that means...

Glaciers! 

Although I confess, when I read the name "Des Moines Lobe," the vision in my head was someone getting their first ear piercing at a Claire's in 1996, but my first guess should've been glaciers. It's always glaciers.  

Minnesota Hiking Club #28 - Big Bog State Recreation Area

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#28 - Big Bog State Recreation Area

Date Hiked: February 22nd, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Franz Jevne State Park, Zippel Bay State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 3.33

Not exactly much for the creative names on this one! "There's a bog, it's pretty big, what should we call it? Big Bog. Cool!" Can't fault it for accuracy or false advertising, at least. 

As I detailed in the other two posts for this day's hikes, Big Bog was meant to be my last stop on the way back down, but after a solid five hours of driving, I reversed it because I just wanted to get out of the car. That, and it's February in Minnesota, daylight could've potentially been a problem. 

An unseasonably warm day led me to attempt the parks on the very top of the map. Unlike other days inspired by such conditions, it was consistent up north, so I wasn't having my face frozen off while people were in short sleeves back at home. Obviously, this is another example of "this really is a huge state." When heading through Bemidji and there's still over an hour to go, it truly starts to set in. With no interstates headed this way, and most of this route being two-lane roads, that likely adds to the travel time. 

Once I arrived at Big Bog, found the information for the Earthcache (and realized I'd need to find more signs than the Adventure Lab would), I headed off around the lake next to the entrance. The small loop is at the beginning/end while the rest is a boardwalk that goes down-and-back. Along the way, the information signs are plentiful and detailed, as well as historical and biological. And, of course, don't follow the lights is practical advice. Or it would be during times where everything beneath the boardwalk isn't snow in the silence of the north. That being said, there is an immaculate beauty in that silence, knowing what a bog's biodiversity would look and sound like on occasions when people would normally be there. 

The historical context definitely makes this an even more interesting stroll, at least when one isn't nearly slipping off the ice and into the great unknown. They tried to drain it and use it for mining and gravel pits, but the bog (of the biggest variety, as we now know) wasn't having it. The caribou of the area weren't so lucky, because people had to ruin absolutely everything before they started having the radical idea of preserving it, but I digress. 

At 2.2 miles, this was surprisingly the longest of the three hikes on the north-central triangle. I can't say I appreciate that, or I wouldn't had I been there at a time where I wouldn't be trekking through closed gates and deep snow, anyway. Even from the population centers of Duluth and Grand Forks, this is a considerable distance to travel for the Hiking Club trails. I recognize these parks have more than the Hiking Club selection, but there is a bit of resentment on my part for driving five-plus hours for a hike short enough that a pack isn't even necessary. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #29 - Father Hennepin State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#29 - Father Hennepin State Park

Date Hiked: March 11th, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Savanna Portage State Park, Mille Lacs-Kathio State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 3.33

Where I've previously been surprised that some parks came sooner on this list, here is an instance where the surprise is that it's come this late. 

Not that there's anything wrong with this park, far from it. But when I recall the truly memorable and eventful hikes from this self-imposed odyssey, this isn't the among the first that come to mind. Though, now that I say this, that could either justify a positive or negative response all the same, as memorable doesn't always mean I enjoyed it. See Franz Jevne State Park as an example for that. I did not have fun on that hike, but I sure as shit remember it vividly! 

Hennepin's name comes up a lot, as anyone who has even flown over Minnesota is likely to know. Hennepin county, Father Hennepin's Bluff Park in Minneapolis, it's not surprising to know he had a state park named after him. This is the Mille Lacs hike I enjoyed, and it was in the middle this day between getting lost in the deepwoods and adding gate mileage down the road at Kathio. This is the first time I've gotten this close to the lake itself, and yes, being in a frozen state counts. By the time it's no longer able to be walked on, the bugs and crowds will have likely kept me from doing anything but drive by on the way to somewhere quieter.

Father Hennepin State Park's Hiking Clib trail is, mercifully, right inside the closed gate during the winter, so it only involved an extra small walk by the loo, which doesn't dock it any. It's not particularly difficult, but it's no Lake Louise either. There's some elevation gain, but nothing that requires preparation or consideration. The actual path itself is probably easier to follow when not covered in ice as well. It's a two mile loop that looks like a cloud with a cigar in its mouth. On days where ice spikes aren't necessary, and if you didn't just put 5 miles in at Savanna Portage, I imagine it's a lovely lakeside stroll. 

A lot of signage is available in terms of interesting information, which is a factor in my rating system. For those who pay attention to such things, it is interesting to see how interconnected this state and its parks truly are. I didn't know what the Superior lobe or a glacial moraine were when I started tjese hikes, but I've seen multiple places that bear the marks of its existence through the Hiking Club. The more you know. ::sound effect::

The lake is a sight to behold, as it was the first time when I didn't know it was coming. Toward the end of my journey though, and having experienced the quality of hikes near the big lake to the northeast, it's difficult to not feel let down by the Mille Lacs offerings. It's not bad, it is closer to the metro, but I feel like it could be so much more.