We hiked Mines of Spain State Recreation Area June 29th, 2024.
Our adventure began on the Pine Chapel Foot Trail. 

Pine Chapel is a tiny one room chapel. 

The next trail we tried to hike was towards the Julien Dubuque Monument. Unfortunately, due to all the rain the trail was closed.

As we made our way back to our starting point, we passed an old Green House and an old Lead Mine of Julien Dubuque. The area around the mine was fenced in and is barely recognizable with all the plant overgrowth.

Due to the trails being flooded, we drove to the Horseshoe Bluff Foot Trail.

The bluffs begin to appear. I absolutely love the bluffs especially against the brilliant blue sky!

We followed the trail up to the different levels.

A small cave was located next to the overlook. 

We looped back to our starting point to find our next destination.

Down the road a bit, we pulled over to hike the Julien Dubuque Foot Trail. The trail at ground level was flooded so we made our way to the second trail leading us to the Julien Dubuque Monument.

Up, up, up we went. 

The Julien Dubuque Monument

The view was worth the climb. It always is. The overflowing Mighty Mississippi River rushed past us.

Today’s hiking adventure was 3.26 miles.