Psst! Make sure you never miss a blog post. And for those living in and around the Twin Cities in Minnesota, it’s closer than you think! I hope this blog post inspired you to make a stop at Willow River State Park in Wisconsin. In fact, I’m planning to go back in the fall to take more photos! With the leaves changing color, I imagine it’s quite a lovely view. However, I bet it’s worth making the hike up in the fall, as it has a panoramic view of the river leading out to Willow Lake with the surrounding forest. I did the climb and wasn’t too impressed with the view of the falls. ![]() ![]() A lightning strike destroyed the dam (the power of nature!), and thankfully, the state bought the land and turned it into a park.Īn overlook above the falls is an option, but you’ll need to climb a steep staircase to get up there. So that’s all to say: You can make a wonderful day-trip visit to Willow Falls.įun fact: The falls were restored to nearly their natural state in 1992 after they had been developed into a dam in 1924 to provide electricity to Hudson, WI. Some other fun activities include kayaking down the river, or fly fishing for trout. On hot days, you’ll find people swimming in the pools, which would be a fun activity for a group of friends camping in the park or a family visiting with kiddos. Under the bridge has a nice view as well. Another great shot is across the bridge to the left of the falls from some rock platforms. The bridge going over the river is one of them. There are so many great viewpoints once you get down to the falls. You can see how big it is next to the people exploring around the falls. I could have stayed here for an hour or two just taking photos. But I had to keep the visit short, so instead, I went for the most scenic of the park – The path that takes you down to Willow Falls. Next time I visit, I’d love to do this hike. You can keep following this trail, which goes along the south side of the river to Little Falls Lake. From here, you can decide what level of hike you want to do, but you’ll start by taking Willow Falls Trail. Once you get to the park, you’ll want to follow the Willow Falls parking signs, as I’ve found it to be a good starting spot that will get you access to all kinds of trails in the park. There are plenty of hills on the trail (which would make it a challenging ski trail!), and a big set of steps going down to the falls (if you take the trail clockwise).If you’re looking for a great spot to go on a hike near the Twin Cities, I’d suggest heading across the river to Wisconsin to check out Willow River State Park. It’s all natural-surface: gravel, dirt or grass. The trail is very wide for a hiking trail, but since it doubles as a cross country ski trail during the winter that makes sense. We stuck to the outer edges for the most part, making our way down the east side to the Falls, then back up on the west loop. You can see on the map there are a few different loops. The trail is mostly through mature forest with plenty of shade, which was great on this warm July morning. To access it, use River Road Parking Lot on the northeast corner of the park, off County Rd. ![]() We decided on the Burkhardt Trail, with its overlooks and access to Willow Falls: What’s to Love about Hiking Willow River’s Burkhardt Trailīurkhardt Trail is a very nice introduction to Willow River State Park. Click here for a list of the trails with short descriptions of each. Trail lengths range from less than a mile to almost 4 miles (one way) and offer a variety of terrain and difficulty. There are 13 miles of hiking trails in this state park (see the map here). Just a half hour from downtown Saint Paul, Willow River is super accessible and well worth either a half-day trip, a full-day trip, or even a few days at one of the campgrounds. There’s beautiful hiking in Willow River State Park, across the St.
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