Carley State Park – Neaton Adventures

Best of 2024

January 11, 2025Posted in Adventure, Christi Neaton, hiking, Minnesota, Minnesota State Parks, Mississippi River, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Bassett Creek Park, Best of 2024, Carley State Park, Christi Neaton, DWP Railroad Tunnel, Ely's Peak, exploring, hiking, Hiking Adventures, Illgen Falls, Iona's Beach SNA, Kawishiwi Falls, Maquoketa Caves State Park, Mines of Spain, Minnehaha Falls, Minnesota, Minnesota State Parks, nature photography, Nerstrand Big Woods State Park, Outdoors, Parks, Pattison State Park, Pine Ridge Trail, Willow River State Park10 Comments

2024 brought another wonderful year of hiking adventures!

Nerstrand Big Woods State Park-Nerstrand-Minnesota

Bassett Creek Park-Crystal-Minnesota

Carley State Park-Plainview-Minnesota

Memorial Park-Red Wing-Minnesota

Willow River State Park-Hudson-Wisconsin

Mines of Spain-Dubuque-Iowa

Maquoketa Caves State Park-Maquoketa-Iowa

DWP Railroad Tunnel-Duluth-Minnesota

Illgen Falls-Beaver Bay Township-Minnesota

Iona’s Beach Scientific and Natural Area-Two Harbors-Minnesota

Pattison State Park-Superior-Wisconsin

Ely’s Peak-Duluth-Minnesota

Kawishiwi Falls-Ely-Minnesota

Pine Ridge Trail-Tower-Minnesota

Minnehaha Falls-Minneapolis-Minnesota

Happy New Year! Cheers to more adventures in 2025!

Carley State Park-Plainview-Minnesota

April 27, 2024Posted in Adventure, hiking, Minnesota, Minnesota State Parks, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Bluebells, Carley State Park, exploring, hiking, Hiking Adventures, Minnesota, Minnesota State Parks, nature photography, North Branch Whitewater River, Outdoors, Spring flowers1 Comment

Today’s hiking adventure was at Carley State Park.

The first time we hiked Carley State Park was near the end of June two years ago. During our visit, we learned that the park is known for their Bluebells during spring. I have been wanting to return to see these beautiful flowers. Well…they’re back which means spring is officially here!

Our hike began at the picnic area of the park. We hiked alongside the North Branch Whitewater River.

Giant concrete steps laid across the river allowing us to cross.

Wildflowers created a wonderful pop of color along the trail.

Baby ferns are just beginning to push through the forest floor.

The forest floor was so alive and vibrant.

We crossed the river again using the giant concrete steps. Once on the other side of the river the trail split, we decided to follow the trail that led us up a steep staircase.

The group campsites and the service road awaited us at the top. Back down the steps we went to hike the other trail.

Bluebells were everywhere!

The river mirrored the green leaves and even the blue from the Bluebells.

As we looped back to our starting point, we learned the trail we had hiked was called the Wildflower Trail.

The picnic area had a painting of the beautiful Bluebells. I am so happy we got to see these gorgeous flowers.

Today’s hiking adventure was 2.6 miles.

Carley State Park-Plainview-Minnesota

July 2, 2022Posted in Adventure, hiking, Minnesota, Minnesota State Parks, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Carley State Park, exploring, hiking, Hiking Adventures, Minnesota, Minnesota State Parks, nature photography, Outdoors, Parks, Whitewater River2 Comments

We hiked Carley State Park on June 24th, 2022.

Midmorning on a beautiful sunny warm day, our adventure began. The trail looped us around the North Branch Whitewater River.

Birds were singing, grasshoppers were jumping, and the plant life was so lush it had a tropical feel to it. We were surprised we didn’t see monkeys swinging from the trees.

The unpaved trails were wide and well maintained.

Mushrooms were enjoying the humidity.

We came to a river crossing however, there wasn’t a bridge to cross. The large rocks that jetted out in the river were spread out just far enough to make it too hard to use them to get across. We really wanted to see the trail on the other side of the river, so we decided to take our boots and socks off and cross barefooted. The cold river felt great on our feet.