Minnesota State Parks Revisited - Afton State Park

 

Afton State Park

Date Hiked: April 12th, 2025

Trail Hiked: Prairie and Deer Valley Loop

Distance Hiked: 16.7 miles

Elevation Gain: 1801 feet

Duration: 5h 49m

This is one of the few hikes for which I can say someone joined me.

My friend, I'll call them K, had followed me on AllTrails for quite a while, and we'd exchanged comments and stories, yet never quite seemed to run into each other at the same time. Finally, we planned a hike in advance, as they were heading to Colorado soon and needed a training hike for the elevation gain. They were hoping someone could keep up with them for an intense, long hike, specifically choosing the Prairie and Deer Valley Loop trail at Afton State Park, which is rated as one of the best and most difficult single day hikes in Minnesota. This would be my first trail labeled as Hard on the difficulty settings, and I was more than delighted to have a companion.

We met early in the morning on April 12th, which was going to be an unseasonably warm day on a weekend, and I'd warned K that the parking lot would fill up fast and we'd need to get started before the trails were flooded with tourists and casuals. K and I had never met before, yet we were instantly friends within minutes of setting out. Most of the time on hikes I don't speak a word. On this hike, I don't think either of us stopped speaking the entire time, and K was delightful company. I'm so grateful they invited me on this journey. We're both used to the phrase "I can't keep up with you," and we know how to meet people where they are. But, being that we're also both avid, frequent hikers, this was one where we were able to say "hardest trail, long distance, let's fucking go." And we did.

The trail starts off at the same place the Hiking Club one does, but instead of turning onto the prairie walk, it disappears way out in the woods. While driving into Afton gives you an idea of the scale of this park, nothing truly captures its massive size than the trail that seems to reach every corner of its boundaries. Shaped like Marge Simpson midway through bowling the 7th frame, making the right turns in several places would be difficult on its own, but K and I were so caught up in our conversation that we wandered off course more than once. Given that I spoke fewer words than parks I hiked for the Hiking Club journey, this was a delightful surprise for which I was not registering a complaint. I don't have many people that can keep up with my hiking speed and distance, and there aren't many people with whom I can carry an hours-long conversation either. This was pleasant serendipity in more ways than one. Sometimes you just know your people when you meet them. 

The Hiking Club trail at Afton is an appetizer for the many this one intersects. The 2 miles can't compare to the 16.7 mile sojourn, but it enticed me!