Tag Archives: Minnesota State Parks

Gooseberry Falls State Park | Minnesota North Shore #exploremn

July 14, 2013 Dan Traun 6 Comments

Gooseberry State Park

Gooseberry Falls State Park is the first state park you will encounter heading North from Duluth. This “gateway to the North Shore” is situated 40 scenic miles North from Duluth along Hwy 61 and the beautiful Lake Superior shoreline. Known primarily for its waterfalls, five in all, this park offers some tremendous views of the awesome power of water. The 23 mile long Gooseberry River runs through the park with varying degrees of volume as it is highly dependent on rain water runoff. The river was plump with water for our visit in July; we photographed all but Fifth Falls. Other items of interest include Agate Beech and the 18 miles of hiking trails, of which 8 are mountain biking trails. There is no shortage of things to see at this park.

History

The area known as Gooseberry Falls State Park is intricately tied to human use of Lake Superior. At different times, the Cree, the Dakotah, and the Ojibwe lived along the North Shore. As early as 1670, the Gooseberry River appeared on explorer maps. The river was either named after the French explorer Sieur des Groseilliers or after the Anishinabe Indian name, Shab-on-im-i-kan-i-sibi; when translated, both refer to gooseberries. In the 1870s, commercial and sport fishermen began to use this area.

By the 1890s, logging became the principle use of the land around the Gooseberry River. In 1900, the Nestor Logging Company built its headquarters at the river mouth and a railway was used to carry the pine to the lake for rafting to the sawmills. Because of fires and intensive logging pressures, the pine disappeared by the early 1920s.

With the rise of North Shore tourism in the 1920s, there was a concern that the highly scenic North Shore would be accessible only to the rich. As a result the Legislature authorized preservation of the area around Gooseberry Falls in 1933. The following year, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) began to develop the park. CCC crews built the park’s stone and log buildings and the 300-foot long “Castle in the Park” stone retaining wall. They also laid out the original campground, picnic grounds and trails. The area officially became Gooseberry Falls State Park in 1937. The CCC camps closed in 1941, but the park’s CCC legacy lives on. Designed with ties to the CCC, a new visitor center/wayside rest and Highway 61 bridge was opened in 1996. CCC camp photo albums: Camp life, Buildings/historic site, Legacy Self-guided Tour checklist & map.

Destination, Nature, Photography

North Shore – Summary | Minnesota North Shore

July 14, 2013 Dan Traun 2 Comments

Wow what a trip. I’ve been up the North Shore several times. I’ve been through the area in the Spring, Winter, and Fall, but never in the Summer. The funny thing though, it didn’t exactly feel like Summer. With the weird and delayed warmer weather this Spring – Spring is just reaching points Duluth and North. The lilacs are just blooming now along with all the other wild flowers including lupine. The roadsides where vibrant with color for the duration.

Leaving the twin city metro area, the weather was the typical July like 90+ degrees; there was a touch of stifling humidity in the air and the possibility of a thunderstorm was very likely. Life is usually a bit cooler along the North Shore with the breezes blowing over that 40 degree water. You could say it is a natural air conditioner. If you have ever been to Duluth, you know full well that there is a chance that you won’t see most of the town and none of the lake when heavy fog sets in. This is exactly what we were met with. From 90+ to 50 degrees in what seemed an instant. Very heavy fog clogged up any hope of a panoramic view and inhibited visibility on the road significantly, but hamper our spirits it did not. Such is life traveling the shore.

Over the next few days we made our way up the shore seven of the eight state parks in the fog. This trip was mostly about photographing the waterfalls in each state park, with the exception of Split Rock, the lighthouse is just cool to tour. It turns outs that fog makes waterfall photography interesting. It was a godsend considering some neutral density (ND) filters were left behind and one lens (with ND filters) was not functioning correctly. The fog naturally filtered out the harsh sunlight and created some interesting shooting conditions to say the least.

We are truly lucky to live is such a beautiful area with wonderful and abundant natural resources so close by. Our state parks are so beautiful. Aside from the parks, the rest of the scenery along the way is pretty awe-inspiring as well.

We were also fortunate enough to sneak a peek (and several shots) of an old abandoned 3-story warehouse/distribution center in Two Harbors, MN. It was lovely as were many other places along the way.

In the coming days I will post the photos from each park. I have a ton of photos (1100+) to look through. Until then, here are a few shots of our travels along the way and in between the parks – more of these to follow as well.

Destination, Nature, Photography

Grand Portage State Park | Minnesota North Shore #exploremn

June 19, 2013 Dan Traun 1 Comment

Grand Portage State Park

Grand Portage State Park is the last and final state park along the North Shore. It was the newest state park in Minnesota until 2010. Lake Vermilion State Park is now the newest. I look forward to visiting this location soon. For more information, check out the Master Plan.

Grand Portage State Park is situated on the northeastern tip of Minnesota on the Canada-Untied States border. The tallest waterfall in the state is located here; at 120 feet, it is impressive. I can only image how it must have been to happen upon this waterfall in a canoe loaded down with supplies, crew and furs. The nine mile portage around this falls and rapids downstream was a very laborious process no doubt.

The day we visited there was rather thick fog to contend with. At times, the visibility of the falls was impossible and you just had to stand there listening to the thunder of the water until it came back into view. This is one of the few handicap accessible park that will bring you up close and personal with this gorgeous waterfall via ramps and board walks. This is a day use only park with 5 miles of hiking trails. The views of the falls and river are very picturesque.

Park Creation

The land adjoining High and Middle Falls was purchased as a possible commercial property by Lloyd K. Johnson, an attorney and land speculator from Duluth, who held onto it for decades. In 1985 a park advocacy group, the Minnesota Parks and Trails Council, suggested complementing Ontario’s Pigeon River Provincial Park with a Minnesota state park. Johnson, who in the 1930’s and 40’s had sold hundreds of thousands of acres to the U.S. Forest Service to help create Superior National Forest and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, agreed to sell 178 acres and donate a further 129 acres. The Parks and Trails Council raised Johnson’s asking price of $250,000 through contributions from individuals and foundations and completed the sale in 1988. -wikipedia

Since the land was within the Grand Portage Indian Reservation, the state park bill was drafted with several provisions establishing a novel collaboration. Legislation establishing the park passed unanimously in both houses of the Minnesota Legislature in 1989. The Parks and Trails Council sold the land to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for $316,000, an amount well under its appraised value. The DNR then began the complicated process of transferring the land to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which would hold it in trust for the Grand Portage Band of Chippewa, who in turn would lease the park back to the DNR for $1 a year. Grand Portage State Park finally opened to the public in September 1994. It took so long to finalize the land deal that another entire Minnesota state park, Glendalough, had been authorized, developed, and dedicated in the meantime.

History

Git-che-O-ni-ga-ming and Grand Portage are Ojibwe and French words for “a great carrying place.” Grand Portage State Park and the surrounding area is rich in Indian and fur trade history. To American Indians, voyageurs and fur traders in the 1700s, the natural features of the area were an awesome sight. Travelers and traders were faced with a 120-foot waterfall, the thundering rapids of the Pigeon River, cliffs, and rocky terrain that was impossible to cross. The only option was to go around these obstacles. The nine-mile trek became known as “The Grand Portage” and ultimately gave the area its name. The park lies within the Grand Portage Indian Reservation and is bordered by Canada on the north and east. Lake Superior is about one mile east of the park. The park was established in 1989 through the cooperative efforts of the State of Minnesota and the Grand Portage Band of Chippewa Indians. A unique situation exists in that this is the only state park not owned by the State of Minnesota. The land is leased from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) which holds it in trust for the Grand Portage Band. The development and operation of the park rests primarily with the Department of Natural Resources and is implemented through the Division of Parks and Recreation. -wikipedia

Here are my shots from my recent visit to Grand Portage State Park.

Destination, Nature, Photography, Wildlife

Blue Mound State Park | MN Buffalo Ridge

June 13, 2013 Dan Traun

MN Buffalo Ridge series [The To and From] [Gibbon, MN] [Pipestone National Monument] [Blue Mound State Park] [Morton, MN Monuments]

From Pipestone, MN we traveled South 30 minutes to Blue Mound State Park. This is another fine example of the wild beauty that nature has provided for us. Situated minutes North of Luverne, MN in Rock County, Blue Mound State Park is touted in local folklore as the mound that was used as a buffalo jump before European settlements – no archaeological evidence exist however. That would be quite the sight.

The “mound” definitely sticks out of the landscape with cliffs up to 100 feet high. The Sioux Quartzite bedrock can been seen from quite a distance; even though it is pink in color, it appeared to early settlers as a blueish mound – hence the name. There are well maintained trails all about the park, but be sure to wear suitable shoes – seems like common sense, I know – however we ran out of that when we pulled into the park. The excitement to get out and see the huge rock formation had us on a 5+ mile hike with no water and I with dead batteries in one of the two cameras I was lugging along for the excursion. We should have turned back and dropped my one camera off and acquired some portable H2O, but that didn’t happen (my fault). It didn’t seem like the hike was going to be that far until it was….ever been there? Beware of a small creek crossing on the South end of the park on Bur Oak Trail. The big hunk of wood in the middle of the stream that appears to be a worthy stepping stone is an invitation to get acquainted with the muddy banks of this innocent looking creek crossing. Thankfully the interpretive center, on the opposite end of the park from where we parked, was not far. It was a welcomed oasis. Some water to wet your parched whistle was just the ticket.

The lower path provides nice views of cliffs where the upper provides sweeping views from atop the mound to the surrounding farm land. There were lots of Western Prickly Pear and some Prairie Smoke, but with the odd Spring weather we had, it was still pretty early and nothing much was in bloom. There were plenty of birds, butterflies and other critters to hold our interest. We spied a very interesting bird; it looked like it had a yellow helmet on. I have never encountered anything like that before. If anyone knows what it is please comment below. We saw the buffalo heard on the way in close to the road, however, when we were done with our hike they were way off away from any photo opportunity. Oh well, perhaps another time.

Cyndie and I very much enjoyed this wonderful state park despite being prepared to really enjoy it. Next time there will need to be more time, comfortable footwear and plenty of aqua. We are very lucky in Minnesota to have so many great state parks. Get out there and explore a state park near you! You may be surprised with what you find and maybe stumble upon other interesting things in between.