Minnesota Adventure Weekends: Your Guide to the Best Outdoor Getaways

by Jeff Moravec

Overview

Plan a weekend of hiking, cycling, climbing, and paddling!

Whether you’re a novice or an experienced adventurer, you’ll find a variety of outdoor pursuits to enjoy in Minnesota—from camping along the North Shore to canoeing in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to biking near the Root River. There’s no need to spend hours researching the best destinations or go on long, expensive trips. This book is for hikers who love to climb, paddlers who love to pedal, and anyone else whose idea of unwinding is an action-packed weekend in the great outdoors. With a dozen exciting trips to choose from, you’ll know where to stay and which adventures are truly weekend-worthy.

The full-color guide features trip descriptions to the best destinations for weekend adventure, including opportunities for hiking, cycling, climbing, and paddling. Tips on lodging options, restaurants, breweries, and coffee shops further aid in the planning. Whether your next outing is for individuals, couples, families, or large groups, get maximum adventure out of your weekend with Minnesota Adventure Weekends!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781634041560
Publisher:	Menasha Ridge Press
Publication date:	04/02/2019
Series:	Adventure Weekends
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	1,032,721
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Jeff Moravec has spent more than 30 years (and nearly 500 nights in a tent) exploring the outdoors in Minnesota. In pursuing outdoor adventures—including hiking, backpacking, camping, biking, and paddling—he has criss-crossed Minnesota, from the North Shore of Lake Superior and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area to the tallgrass prairie and blufflands in the state’s southern region. An accomplished writer and wildlife photographer, Jeff regularly recounts his travels in the Outdoors Weekend section of Minneapolis’s Star Tribune. His writings have also appeared in national publications, and his photos have been displayed throughout the Midwest. Jeff has also written about and photographed the northern lights in Iceland; the lions of the Serengeti (Tanzania, Africa); and the windswept shorelines of Scotland and Ireland. Jeff has also spent decades as a volunteer for the Superior Hiking Trail Association and other outdoors organizations in Minnesota, working to protect, maintain, and improve the state’s natural resources.

Read an Excerpt

NEW ULM

One of the fun parts of putting this book together is sharing locations in Minnesota that are off the beaten path. The New Ulm area in south-central Minnesota attracts visitors because of its strong German heritage, but it isn’t a locale particularly known for outdoor adventures. That may be because there isn’t a spot—like a Grand Marais or a Root River—that serves as a singular recreational draw. However, one state park on the edge of New Ulm and two others a stone’s throw away offer a combination of outdoor activities that will more than fill a weekend. In fact, there are outdoor attractions here that are rare anywhere else in Minnesota, and you can get there in less than 2 hours from the Twin Cities.

Areas included: New Ulm, Flandrau State Park, Fort Ridgely State Park, Minneopa State Park, Cottonwood River

Adventures: Camping, biking, hiking, exploring, paddling

Directions: From Bloomington in the Twin Cities, it’s about 90 miles to New Ulm via US 169. Take US 169 south about 61 miles and turn right on MN 99 W in St. Peter. Go 12 miles and turn right on US 14. In 2.7 miles turn left on County Road 37 (20th Street S.). In 0.7 mile turn right on S. Valley Street.

LODGING: TOP PICK

FLANDRAU STATE PARK (MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES) 1300 Summit Ave., New Ulm; 507-233-9800; dnr.state.mn.us/state _parks/park.html?id=spk00145. $17–$23/night ($8 more for sites with electric hookups) for drive-in sites in main campground, 48 sites, 16 with electric hookups; $15–$19/night for drive-in sites at rustic campground, 32 sites; reservations required; sites have picnic table, fire ring, grill, flush and vault toilets, water, hot showers and flush toilets May 1–mid-October (check with park for specific dates). Rustic campers should use beach house showers when open. State park permit required ($35 annual, $7 daily).

The quality of the campsites at Flandrau varies widely. Some are what the park refers to as “nonsecluded,” grassy areas with a few trees but not much separating you from your neighbor. Those sites are generally on the inside of the loops or on the outside of loops that butt up against each other. I prefer the rustic campground (no electric hookups), which is more remote than the main “semimodern” campground. If you do end up in the modern campground, the loop with the nonelectric sites is the best option. The rustic campground does not have a shower building, but you can use the one at Flandrau’s beach house.

Want to get away from it all? Flandrau has three walk-in campsites near the rustic campground. They offer the most wilderness experience in the park (W91 is the best). You do have to lug your gear from your car to the sites, but it’s not far.

If camping at Flandrau, you can enjoy the proximity of the Cottonwood River, or take a dip in the chlorinated, sand-bottom swimming pond, usually open from early June until late August.

Also, because Flandrau was the site of a Works Progress Administration (WPA) camp during the late 1930s and early 1940s, it’s fun to take time to check out the buildings in the park that are beautiful examples of the architectural work done by the WPA.

Finally, it’s worth noting that Flandrau is right on the edge of New Ulm; you might be surprised when you arrive how close you are to town. So while you’re not exactly deep in the wilderness, if you’re planning to explore what New Ulm has to offer, it’s nice to be so close.

Directions: Follow the directions to New Ulm (it’s about another 2 miles to the park) but instead of turning on S. Valley Street, stay on 20th Street S and in 0.3 mile turn right on S. Broadway Street. In 0.8 mile turn left on S. 10th Street. In 0.8 mile turn left on Summit Avenue. The park is just ahead to your right.

BACKUP BASE CAMPS

Minneopa State Park (Minnesota Department of Natural Resources) 54497 Gadwall Road, Mankato; 507-389-5464; dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/park.html?id=spk00235. $17– $21/night ($8 more for sites with electric hookups) for drive-in sites, 61 sites, 6 with electric hookups; reservations required; sites have picnic table, fire ring, grill, vault toilets, water, hot showers and flush toilets May 1–mid-October (check with park for specific dates); state park permit required ($35 annual, $7 daily).

Minneopa State Park is about 23 miles southwest of Flandrau, just west of the city of Mankato, and it may be a better choice for camping than Flandrau if you’re not interested in doing much exploring in New Ulm. The sites offer more privacy, especially those on the outside of the loops, even though a lot of the sites are open to the road and spaced fairly close together. There is only one campground here, with two loops. Good choices are even-numbered campsites 16–24 in the A loop—they’re closest to the Minnesota River—and even-numbered sites 18–34 in the B loop are also good choices.

Minneopa does have two of the coolest things you’ll find in any state park in Minnesota—a spectacular set of waterfalls and a unique bison herd.

Minneopa is split into two sections, with the waterfalls across CR 68, south of the campground portion of the park. The falls are a short hike past the shelter in the southern park section. When you park, you can see the shelter. Walk past it, and you’ll run into a footbridge with a small set of falls above it. You cross the bridge to follow the path to the large falls. You can stay on the walkway for a nice view of the falls, or follow a steep set of steps (constructed by the WPA) that go to the base of the falls. You’ll have to take this route back out—an older trail that looped around the falls has been closed due to erosion. The falls are a popular attraction and can get busy by the middle of the day, so visit in the morning if possible.

Take plenty of time to explore the falls before heading back to the campground side of the park to check out the bison herd, which is maintained at Minneopa as part of an effort between the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Minnesota Zoological Garden to conserve and expand American plains bison with healthy genetics. This kind of herd, largely free of genetic material that can come from cross-breeding with cattle, is rare in Minnesota and the United States.

Mill Road, which can be accessed from near the campground, goes through the 300-acre bison enclosure. You are required to stay in your vehicle. Check with the park to see the best time of day to see the bison gather near the road, which they cross to get to their feeding area; at other times, the bison congregate far from the road and can be difficult to spot. The bison drive is closed on Wednesdays, and open hours vary by season; check with the park office for open hours during your visit.

Like Flandrau, Minneopa has many buildings constructed by the WPA during the 1930s.

To reach the falls from the campground Exit the park, turn left on CR 68, then right on 547th Street (CR 117). Follow the road past the cemetery to Gadwall Road (CR 69). Turn right and go 0.3 mile to the park entrance....

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Overview Map

Preface

Minnesota Adventure Accolades

Introduction

Battle Lake

Carlton

Crow Wing County

Ely

Grand Marais

Lake Maria

New Ulm

Northwest

Rock County

Root River

Silver Bay

Two Harbors

Additional Resources

Index

About the Author