Minnesota State Parks Revisited: Whitewater State Park, Carley State Park

 

Whitewater State Park

Date Hiked: September 20th, 2025

Trail Hiked: Coyote Point via Dakota Trail, Carley State Park Hiking Club Loop

Distance Hiked: 3.8 miles, 1.9 miles

Elevation Gain: 784 ft., 112 ft.

Duration: 1h 57m, 37m

These two are so close together that even without the Hiking Club motivation, still figured that I might as well pay a visit to both. After all, the last time I visited Carley, I couldn't even drive up to the trailhead, so that made for a briefly different experience, even if the hike itself was pretty much the same. Without any bluebells, it's a simple walk in the woods with a tremendous adventure nearby blowing it out of the water, and doing Whitewater first can only lead to being underwhelmed. But, a few extra miles to pad the yearly count? Eh, why not?

I thought tremendously well of the Whitewater Hiking Club trail, and with it being on the more difficult side of the spectrum for that particular measurement, I continued my self-imposed quest to seek the longest trail in every Minnesota State Park. AllTrails did me no favors with this one though.

Starting on the Dakota Trail... well, it was better than having to end on it, I guess? With my white blaze Appalachian Trail shirt though, I did notice a level of deference from other hikers that admittedly gave me a small ego boost. The initial incline reminded me of the non-flat section of nearby Beaver Valley Creek with its steep ascent along a woodsy bluff, but once the trail crosses the road, it became unbearable in a sensory manner. Spiderwebs everywhere, mud from the extreme shade of the canopy, overgrown thorns, and the slippery sense of doom from the possibility of sliding down the bluff like Gollum making the world's worst sneak attack all contributed to a less pleasant middle of this hike. The loop around a scenic view was half pleasant, half grass taller than I am, making one's skin believe it had ticks crawling all over regardless of the accuracy of that paranoia. 

After having an eye-level conversation with some cattails and dodging a few trail tourists, the quality of the trail increases immensely as it weaves through the Hiking Club sections, a nostalgic throwback to the Nerstrand-Big Woods adventure of this variety. With the temperature being considerably higher than my Hiking Club speedrun, it wasn't surprising to find quite a few more people along the way, and reversing the course of the aforementioned Hiking Club jaunt led to a different experience of crossing the river on stones, thankfully with no ice to fear. 

Traversing down the bluffs brings one to a new ascent on the other side of the visitor's center with some equally delightful rock climbs, granting one great views of the hills and bluffs most recently completed. With this being the day after Frontenac though, the steep elevation gains of the bluffs two days in a row were making my knees rebel against my pursuit. While the trail I was taking was supposed to be an out-and-back, the call of Gatorade from the store was stronger than my will to gain another verified complete badge. 

Still, unquestionably, a top tier state park. 

Minnesota Hiking Club #2 - Whitewater State Park

 

Minnesota Hiking Club

#2 - Whitewater State Park

Date Hiked: January 6th, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Carley State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 4.33

You only get 2.2 miles credit for this hike? That can't be right. 

Before starting this hike, I was in the unique position of seeing an office not only open, but staffed. The information and dioramas inside are awesome and really give you a feel for the area's landscape and wildlife. The wonderfully friendly ranger working there advised me that the trail shouldn't have much ice. Even the sign entering the trail warns you that the difficulty is considerable. 

Then, something that would've been near impossible a day or two earlier, I had to carefully step over concrete blocks in the river to cross. On ice two days ago, that would've been sick. Then, the trail goes straight incline the whole way up, but the quality of the trail was greatly increased due to the lack of ice. The demons were still rampaging in my mind, despite my "woke up feeling dangerous" trilogy two days before. But, maybe peering out over the heights of the bluffs gave me a little more unexpected boldness, both in hiking and personal interaction. Instead of reading too much into a message I got where I normally would've, I instead chose to believe the words I was given. With a mind prone to running wild and filling in the blanks with the worst of possibilities, this was not only something I was choosing to do in order to avoid consequences or self-initiated spirals, but because therapy was beginning to work and I chose to believe someone I love when they said so. I know this is incredibly vague, but trust me when I say that it was a transformative act for a worrisome person prone to paranoia in the unspoken like myself. 

It doesn't matter what came before, I've felt pain and I wanted more, I'm not settled until I've done it all and right...

Overcoming giant ass bluffs is just like silencing the mean voices in your head that conjure paranoid thought spirals that aren't there; it's extremely hard to do at first, but the more times you train, to take things one step at a time, to breathe, to believe what someone tells you, to trust your footing, to build up the endurance for when things get difficult, the payoff is worth the trials and tribulation of the fight. Trekking up that hill is a bitch, but seeing the rest of the park from atop the rocky bluffs would be impossible without putting in the work to do that without fear, same as it is to trust someone rather than allow the worst trauma of your mind to convince you that someone who loves you actually hates your guts and doesn't give a shit. You can't do it without practice, failure, hard times, wanting to give up, and times of strain on others and yourself, but to use a cliche that I nonetheless mean: 

You got this. 

Seeing a trail labeled "difficult" a year earlier might've made me reconsider. 

I got this.