Afton State Park

Name: Afton State Park

Year it became a State Park: 1969

Section of Minnesota: Twin Cities

Nearby Town: Afton

Positives: Right On The Beautiful St. Croix River

The Negatives: No Drive Up Camping

General Comments: This park has pleasant drives, scenic view, nice hikes, and it’s close to the Twin Cities.

Something Everyone Wants To See: The River

But you should also check out: The bridges crossing Trout Brook.

Nearby attraction to visit: There are several apple orchards in this area.

Interesting Trivia: This park and the area around it got its name from the Robert Burns poem “Afton Water”, about a river in Scotland.

Personal Stories: We got our 2009 Christmas picture from the picnic area in this park.

What My Kids Want Me To Say: Just north of the beach there is a ridge that you can climb up to and walk along.

Jamsco Ranking: Very Nice

Final Word: Another park that is beautiful in the fall. If you live in the Twin Cities and haven’t been there, go!

Thoughts? Comments? Have you been to Afton? Do you agree with my assessment?

Sakatah Lake State Park

Name: Sakatah Lake State Park

Year it became a State Park: 1963

Section of Minnesota: Central, Big Woods

Nearby Town: Faribault

Positives: Has a major bike trail heading through it.

The Negatives: Has a slightly claustrophobic feel to it.

General Comments: This is a nice little park in central Minnesota where you can canoe and bike.

Something Everyone Wants To See: The Lake

Interesting Trivia: The south side of the lake (where the park is) was never logged, which was why it was seen as a good place for a state park.

Personal Stories: I visited this park with my wife’s family long before we were married.

Our family visited this park in 2006 and we walked along the lake.

I don’t personally know how to pronounce ‘Sakatah’.

What My Kids Want Me To Say: Have some fun on the big wooden steps down to the picnic area by the lake.

Jamsco Ranking: County Park Level

Final Word: You can canoe from this state park to the Mississippi river. And you can bike to Mankato. That kind of mobility makes this park a nice crossroads spot.

Thoughts? Comments? Have you been to Sakatah Lake State Park? Do you agree with my assessment?

Gooseberry River Roaring

MPR has some impressive and awe-inspiring pictures of the flooding falls in Gooseberry state park.

Go take a look.

It’s very interesting to know that several places that we’ve picnic are now under water. For example, I’m pretty sure that the spot that our kids are on in this picture -

- is the rock in center of this picture -

So I would be both very pleased and a little horrified to bring my kids to see the river these days.

New Map Page

I’ve created a map that shows all of the State Parks I’ve reviewed. Go take a look!

Frontenac State Park

Name: Frontenac State Park

Year it became a State Park: 1957

Section of Minnesota: East Coast, Mississippi River

Nearby Town: Red Wing, Pepin

Positives: Beautiful Views of the River, Pleasant Camping, Perfect hikes.

The Negatives: Nothing comes to mind.

General Comments: From the moment you drive through the gate, and see the wide open spaces and rolling hills, you can tell that this is a pretty park. You get the urge to hike just by driving in.

Something Everyone Wants To See: The Scenic Overlook View from the Picnic Area

But you should also check out: The In Yan Teopa Rock, an interesting outcropping of rock. I also recommend just walking along the ridge.

Nearby attraction to visit: Barn Bluff in Red Wing

Interesting Trivia: When you’re looking out from the overlook onto Lake Pepin, you’re looking at the place on the Mississippi river where Laura Ingalls and her family crossed into Minnesota in “Little House On The Prairie”

Personal Stories: This was a stopping off spot on our scout bike ride to Whitewater State Park – thirty years ago this summer.

I walked through this park with my girlfriend – now my wife – twenty two years ago.

Our family has visited this park seven times in the last ten years. I wrote a  poem about one of the earlier visits.

We saw a fairly close view of a perching Bald Eagle last year on a walk along the bluff.

What My Kids Want Me To Say: Watch carefully on the paved path – you might find a snake warming itself. Also, watch out for the wild turkeys.

Jamsco Ranking: Among The Best In The State

Final Word: This is a classic Mississippi River state park. It makes a great fall day trip from the twin cities.

Thoughts? Comments? Have you been to Frontenac? Do you agree with my assessment?

New Geocaching Challenge

I was very pleased to see that the State Parks are doing another round of geocaching this year. In this program, they have hidden geocaches in all of the 75 state parks (and a few other places.

In the first round our family found 12, and in the last round we found 25. I have the cards hanging in my cubicle at work.

Round three began only four days ago and the theme this year is birds. It’s called the Avian Adventure. Just like the other two programs there are different collector cards at each site. This time each parks card has a bird that can be found in the park.

A few other things you should know about this program:

1. Our kids enjoyed the challenge of finding the cache at each spot.

2. Many of the geocaches are hidden in lesser known, but good-to-know-about spots in the park. For example, we wouldn’t have known about the chimney overlook (mentioned in my last review) if the geocache hadn’t brought us up there. We were grateful to learn about it.

3. Some of the geocache hides are simple and take ten minutes, others are more complex multi-step challenges and take more than an hour.  We’ve found that the rangers at the front desk will help and give you clues if you ask.

4. Don’t have a GPS? Some of the parks have devices that you can borrow.

Go try it!

Thanks, Instapundit!

And if you’re coming from there, Welcome!

I sure like to hear any comments or suggestions you have. Do you agree with my reviews? What are they missing?