Minnesota Hiking Club #52 - Lake Bemidji State Park

Minnesota Hiking Club

#52 - Lake Bemidji State Park

Date Hiked: March 2nd, 2025

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

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 2.50

I still don't know what inspired me to head here after I drove the whole way to Glendalough for my first password/stamp combination of the day, but since Itasca was the muse behind it, it only made sense to hit this one first and work my way back down. Thankfully, La Salle Lake wasn't the final stop on this particular collection of hikes, or that might've made the #67 entry even more awkward. 

"The dead marshes. Yes, that is what they are called. Look, there's Lester Nygaard and Wish.com Malvo. Don't follow the lights. Also, there was a hike." That's a direct quote from my Passport, and if you haven't seen Two Towers and season one of Fargo, just pretend I made an allusion to something you've enjoyed many times. But being in Bemidji, the main setting for the latter, and given that this hike is through a bog, I couldn't help but be referential. 

This wasn't my first bog hike of the speedrun, though interestingly both involved walking on a boardwalk covered in ice. Lake Bemidji's Hiking Club trail had a road crossing though, and that was an interesting sensory experience with ice spikes on, as was hiking with clamp-ons while wearing short sleeves on March 2nd this far north. 

Picking up a few Geocaches along the way while amusing myself with thoughts of the aforementioned pop culture crossover none of us ever knew we needed, I had a great appreciation for the effort, energy, and detail they put into the information along the bog walk. It's not often a place can effectively combine facts of a geological, historical, and cultural context, as well as detail the types of plants and animals native to such a landform in such a comparatively short amount of a hike. Granted, most of those plants and animals were not readily visible at the time of my hike, but given the amount of bugs one would expect in such a location, I'm perfectly fine with using my imagination to fill in the blanks left by snow and silence. 

The Hiking Club trail for Lake Bemidji State Park feels oddly separate from... well, the namesake lake itself, but also the park. "Enter this park, see this massive lake, look at all the activities there are to do... now hang a left and go away if you want your password." I'm sure many others do the Hiking Club trail and then partake in other activities, but you've obviously gathered by now, that's not what I was up to for this project. I just found it interesting, as the other Lake <name> State Parks on this list involved hiking around said named lakes, but mixing it up is not a bad thing. 

I'll talk more about bog walks when I get to Big Bog State Recreation Area later in this list, but I'm grateful these areas have been preserved, despite the best efforts of those who seek to break things and ruin them for everybody. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #55 - Minneopa State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#55 - Minneopa State Park

Date Hiked: January 5th, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Fort Ridgely State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 2.42

I've mentioned my January 4th trilogy of hikes that took place in weather cold enough that even a giant prehistoric elk would question, and given that I haven't written anything about them yet, that should also indicate how well I thought of the parks.

Naturally the one I did the very next morning was going to feel a bit underwhelming. 

Yes, I already wrote a bit about that for dear old Fort Ridgely (you're with us in sunshine and weather more drizzly... deep Daria cut for those who know), but this was the first one on January 5th. It was closer, and while it was cold, it wasn't "dangerous elk turned back and planned his revenge later" cold. Mercifully, because my sunglasses didn't turn to ice. 

A note on proximity: because it was winter, I didn't do Flandrau State Park between Minneopa and Fort Ridgely, even though since there was no snow, I probably could've. But if you're not doing the Hiking Club in winter, it's not an issue and those might line up nicely. 

Second note on proximity: if you're doing the Passport club simultaneously, it's good to know that the stamp location and the Hiking Club trail are not in the same place. The stamp can be found near this whip cream-esque waterfall, while the Hiking Club trail is closer to the river and the buffalo area. 

Are all these notes a way to avoid covering the hike itself because of its unfortunate time slot of following possibly my favorite day of my Hiking Club odyssey? It's not not that...

There's absolutely nothing wrong with this park, and the fact that it has a buffalo herd (not the last one I'll write about that does) is really amazing and awesome. From one vantage point on the Hiking Club trail, very close to the end, I could barely see a few of them. But, they're a herd of wild buffalo running free across the plains (second Daria reference of this post, sue me). It's not a zoo, it's not guaranteed that one will get a good view. 

Speaking of good views though, there is a fantastic view of the Minnesota River on the trail. For once, winter is an advantage, because it was easier to see without any leaves on the trees. Winter, ya ain't so bad! 

The trail is pretty decent. Some elevation gain, but not too much... again, following January 4th, my calves needed the break. It's in good condition, it's a good walk through the woods and prairie, and sometimes you get to see buffalo roaming around. It's a decent stop on this journey, and probably an even better one when there are temperatures that human beings ought to consider living in, everything doesn't look brown and/or frozen (except the buffalo, if they're not brown there's something wrong), and the river is flowing rather than stuck in icy stasis. 

Had the trail gone by this badass waterfall though, it'd likely be higher on the list.

Minnesota Hiking Club - Introduction to the Wanderloon Travel Series

Greetings and salutations. 

I am E.A. Moon, the Wanderloon, and a hiker. This is the beginning of my first travel series on this page, detailing my unusual journey through the Minnesota Hiking Club. 

What makes it unusual? Not only were they all done in the winter, but a single winter season. 

What made me want to do this journey when most people in Minnesota don't even want to leave the house? Well... 

1. I found out about the Minnesota Hiking Club in December of 2024. 

2. I am autistic and tend to get hyperfocused on things, especially if I can document them. Conversely, I also did the Passport Club simultaneously.

3. Speaking of hyperfocus and documentation, I kept track of my progress using a map of the state parks, and I would highlight them as I completed the visit. Highlighting the newest trees was the first thing I would do upon coming back home.

4. I wanted to.

5. Most of the writing about the state parks, and the Hiking Club specifically, appears to be done over the summer (and reasonably so!) and multiple years. I am not taking anything away from them. But, the perspective of seeing and hiking these parks in the winter is different.

6. I did all 67 hiking trails in the span of 82 days. I think that's neat and I'm proud of it. 

7. Do I need a 7th reason? Probably not, but now this list has 7 reasons.

8. Along the journey, I ranked all 67 parks. Mostly on the Hiking Club trail specifically, but also my experience of the park in the process of completing the Hiking Club trail. These rankings are entirely subjective, biased, and determined by nothing but my own personal experience of the hike at that particular time. As previously described, these were done in the winter as well, so these rankings bear nothing on what these parks and trails are like in the summer. 

I am grateful every single one of these trails and parks exist. Nothing about my ranking should discourage you from visiting, whether you're participating in the Hiking Club/Passport Club or not. Based merely on the concept of a ranking system, one of them had to be the lowest, but that is not an insult. The rankings are based on my perception, what I was going through at the time, and how the hike itself went. 

The Wanderloon Ranking System is based on 6 (mostly) subjective factors that I made up, each of them on a scale of 1-5, then averaging them out. These factors are: 

-Trail Quality: on that day

-Views and Scenery: on that day, in the winter, what I wanted to see, and what I like

-Elevation Gain: hills, slopes, and climbs of all kinds

-Interesting Information: placards, displays, descriptions, cool stuff to learn about

-Vibe: cannot emphasize enough that these are subjective, personal rankings and based only on my experience

-Easy to Find: the park itself, Hiking Club trail