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    Hittin’ the Trail: Day Hiking the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway
    Hittin’ the Trail: Day Hiking the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway
    Hittin’ the Trail: Day Hiking the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway
    Ebook168 pages1 hour

    Hittin’ the Trail: Day Hiking the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway

    By Rob Bignell

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Imagine a place where you can walk through lush green forests and alongside crystal blue rivers...where you can lean against 200-year-old trees or feel the splash of hidden waterfalls...where you can retrace the steps of historic portages or watch bald eagle families soar overhead. Such a place not only exists, it has been preserved for all to enjoy – it’s called the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway.

    Now comes the only complete guide to the parks’ great day hiking trails: “Hittin’ the Trail: Day Hiking the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway.” With one tap of the screen, you can:
    >>Plan days of fun family-friendly activities
    >>Learn which trails lead to great vistas, swimming beaches, and wildlife sightings
    >>Discover historical and geological wonders along the riverway
    >>Find directions, entrance fees, parking lots and more!

    With the “Hittin’ the Trail” ebooks, you’ll never need another hiking guide to any of your favorite parks. We’ll see you on the trail!

    ROB BIGNELL is an avid hiker, long-time editor, and Wisconsin native who’s been day hiking with his son for more than six years. Together they’ve scaled summits almost two miles high, crossed America’s driest deserts, and walked beneath trees soaring 15 stories over their heads.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRob Bignell
    Release dateApr 9, 2014
    ISBN9780989672344
    Hittin’ the Trail: Day Hiking the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway
    Author

    Rob Bignell

    Rob Bignell is the owner and sole editor at Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the editing and proofreading needs of writers both new and published. During the past five years, he's helped more than a hundred novelists, poets and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams. Several of his short stories in the literary and science fiction genres have been published, and he is the author of the popular and highly acclaimed nonfiction "Hikes with Tykes," "Headin' to the Cabin," and "Hittin' the Trail" book series, the novel "Windmill", and the poetry collection "Love Letters to Sophie's Mom". For more than two decades, he worked as an award-winning journalist, with half of those years spent as an editor. In addition, for seven years he served as an English teacher or a community college journalism instructor. He holds a Master's degree in English and a Bachelor's degree in journalism and English. He and his son live in west-central Wisconsin and are active in boys basketball and Cub Scouts.

    Read more from Rob Bignell

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      Book preview

      Hittin’ the Trail - Rob Bignell

      Hittin’ the Trail: Day Hiking

      the St. Croix National Scenic

      Riverway

      By Rob Bignell

      Atiswinic Press, Ojai, Calif.

      ***************************

      HITTIN’ THE TRAIL: DAY HIKING THE

      ST. CROIX NATIONAL SCENIC RIVERWAY

      Copyright Rob Bignell, 2014

      All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio, television or online reviews, no portion of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      Thank you for downloading this free ebook. Although this is a free book, it remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy at Smashwords.com, where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

      Atiswinic Press

      Ojai, Calif. 93023

      ISBN 978-0-9896723-4-4

      Library of Congress Control Number 2014936129

      Cover design by Rob Bignell

      Cover photo of St. Croix River near St. Croix Falls, Wis.

      All interior photos by Rob Bignell

      Manufactured in the United States of America

      First printing April 2014

      ***************************

      Dedication

      For Kieran

      Our adventure has only just begun!

      ***************************

      Table of Contents

      INTRODUCTION

      The Scenic Riverway South to North

      Attractions

      Kid-Friendly Activities

      How to Get There

      When to Visit

      Maps

      ST. CROIX RIVER TRAILS

      Carpenter St. Croix Valley

      Nature Center

      South River Bluff Trail

      St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park

      St. Croix Bluffs Trail

      Kinnickinnic State Park

      Purple Trail

      Other Kinnickinnic State Park Trails

      Afton State Park

      North River Trail

      Other Afton State Park Trails

      Willow River State Park

      Hidden Ponds Nature (Black) Trail

      Burkhardt (Pink) Trail

      Other Willow River State Park Trails

      Stillwater Area Trails

      Brown’s Creek Park and Nature Preserve Ski Trail segment

      St. Croix Boom Site Trail

      William O’Brien State Park

      Riverside Trail

      Other William O’Brien State Park Trails

      Osceola Area Trails

      Cascade Falls Trail

      Ridge View (Osceola and Chisago) Trails

      Osceola Bedrock Glades State Natural Area

      Ridgeview Trail

      Wisconsin Interstate State Park

      Summit Rock Trail

      Lake O’ the Dalles Trail

      Other Wisconsin Interstate State Park Trails

      Minnesota Interstate State Park

      Shadow and Angle Rocks Lookout Trail

      Other Minnesota Interstate State Park Trails

      St. Croix Falls Area Trails

      Indianhead Flowage Trail

      Other St. Croix Falls Area Trails

      Wild River State Park

      River Terrace Loop

      Other Wild River State Park Trails

      Grantsburg Area Trails

      Sandrock Cliffs Trail

      Governor Knowles State Forest

      Cedar Interpretive Trail

      Other Governor Knowles State Forest Trails

      Chengwatana State Forest

      Redhorse Creek Northern Loop

      Other Chengwatana State Forest Trails

      St. Croix State Park

      Kettle River Highbanks to Observation Tower Route

      Other St. Croix State Park Trails

      St. Croix State Forest

      Gandy Dancer State Trail segment

      Other St. Croix State Forest Trails

      Schoen/Louise Parks

      Schoen/Louise Parks Jeep Trail

      Buckley Creek Barrens State Natural Area

      Buckley Creek Barrens Trail

      Gordon Dam County Park

      Gordon Flowage Campground Trail

      Brule River State Forest

      Bois Brule-St. Croix River Historic Portage Trail

      NAMEKAGON RIVER TRAILS

      Danbury Area Trails

      Namekagon Delta Trail

      Trego Area Trails

      Trego Lake Trail

      Trego Nature Trail

      Wild Rivers Trail segment

      Hayward Area Trails

      Namekagon-Laccourt Oreilles Portage Trail

      Cable Area Trails

      Namekagon Dam Landing Trail

      BEST TRAILS LIST

      Bonus Section: Day Hiking Primer

      Selecting a Trail

      Clothing

      Equipment

      Navigational Tools

      Food and Water

      First-aid Kit

      Hiking with Children: Attitude Adjustment

      Family Dog

      Rules of the Trail

      Trail Dangers

      ***************************

      Introduction

      Imagine a land where you can walk through lush green forests and alongside crystal blue rivers…where you can lean against 200-year-old trees or feel the splash of hidden waterfalls…where you can retrace the steps of historic portages or watch bald eagle families soar overhead. Such a place not only exists, it has been preserved for all to enjoy – it’s called the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway.

      Located along the Minnesota-Wisconsin border and across the latter’s Northwoods, the scenic riverway includes most of the St. Croix River and all of the Namekagon River. The National Park Service runs the scenic riverway, but a patchwork of state and county parks, nonprofit nature centers, and state forests combine to protect 252 contiguous miles of the two waterways. A whole variety of recreational activities, from camping and fishing to canoeing and day hiking, await there.

      Just a few hours’ drive at most for anyone living in Minnesota, Wisconsin, northern Illinois, northeast Iowa, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the scenic riverway’s proximity to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport makes it easier to reach than most national parks. Indeed, the scenic river-way outperforms attendance of more than half of all national parks; annual attendance now tops 520,000 visitors.

      The scenic riverway wouldn’t exist at all if not for a major geological event dating some 1.1 billion years ago. At that time, massive lava flows covered this part of the world. This basalt now forms a strong bedrock that is the foundation of the St. Croix River gorge, the surrounding landscape, and Lake Superior to the north.

      The sandstone above the basalt began forming some 515 million years ago when this region sat under a warm shallow sea near the equator. As sediments piled up and were covered over the eons, they hardened into rock; the landscape finally rose above the sea about 345 million years ago.

      Then about 10,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age, a glacial torrent swept through the area when ancient Lake Duluth drained south. This flood carved the St. Croix River valley and left many intriguing cliff formations.

      Since the last ice age, Native Americans have used the St. Croix and Namekagon for trade and travel. When European explorers and fur traders arrived beginning during the late 1600s, they mainly saw the waterways as quick routes connecting the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River; so vital was this link that by 1688 the French had established Fort St. Croix (Fort Holy Cross) along the St. Croix, giving the river its modern name.

      Throughout the 1700s, the river area was hotly contested, first by Ojibwe and Dakota Indians living there and then the French and the British.

      Following the Revolutionary War, the United States wrested control of the area from the British but would not assert any real power over it until the 1830s when the Treaty of St. Peters was signed with the Ojibwe. This opened the area to logging, which dominated the two riverways and surrounding forests for the rest of the century. Many of today’s towns along the two rivers got their start thanks to the logging industry.

      During the 20th century, the economy along the rivers shifted to agriculture, but with the growth of the nearby Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, a number of conservationists and concerned citizens feared the riverway was ripe for commercial exploitation. Their efforts led to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968, which protected significant portions of the St. Croix and Namekagon north of Taylors Falls, Minn.

      Just four years later, Congress protected the St. Croix south of Taylors Falls to Prescott, Wis., by creating the Lower St. Croix National Scenic Riverway.

      The Scenic Riverway South to North

      From south to north, the scenic riverway begins in Prescott, where the St. Croix River meets the Mississippi River. This wide stretch of the St. Croix often is referred to as Lake St. Croix, which sports two state parks. At Afton, Minn., and Hudson, Wis., the Interstate 94 bridge handles the greatest amount of vehicle traffic over the river. From there, Willow River State Park sits on a tributary to the St. Croix in what is Lake St. Croix’s most populous stretch, with the cities of Bayport, Oak Park Heights and Stillwater on the Minnesota side and Hudson and North Hudson on the

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