Fire Tower – Neaton Adventures

St. Croix State Park-Hinckley-Minnesota

October 12, 2023Posted in Adventure, hiking, Minnesota, Minnesota State Parks, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, exploring, Fall, Fire Tower, hiking, Hiking Adventures, hinckley, Kettle River, Minnesota, Minnesota State Parks, nature photography, Outdoors, Parks, St. Croix State Park4 Comments

We hiked St. Croix State Park on October 8^th, 2023.

The fire tower was our first destination. The fall colors were at a minimum. We noticed quiet a few trees were already bare, so we may have missed some of the bright red and orange fall colors. I absolutely love the views from fire towers.

Our hiking adventure began at post #13 on the Matthew Lourey State Park Trail. There were so many leaves on the ground. The crunching leaves added a cool soundtrack to our hike.

We crossed over Bear Creek.

The trail led us to a large open field. A sign posted nearby said the area is used as a helicopter evacuation site. Thankfully, we didn’t need to be evacuated.

The sound of the Kettle River crashing across the rocks as it flowed by us was so relaxing. A guy fishing nearby said the river was higher today due to all the rain we have had recently.

Hiking on the Kettle River Highbanks Trail allowed us to hike near the river.

The overlook of the Kettle River was stunning! The blue water reflecting off the brilliant blue sky was incredible.

Chapel Grove Trail looped us back to our starting point.

The fire tower in the distance.

A small pond mirrored the clouds above.

A fall hike is never complete without finding mushrooms, and we found a giant mushroom patch!

Our hiking adventure was 9.3 miles.

Big Bog State Recreation Area-Waskish-Minnesota

August 4, 2023Posted in Adventure, hiking, Minnesota, Minnesota State Parks, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Big Bog State Recreation Area, Bog, exploring, Fire Tower, hiking, Hiking Adventures, Minnesota, Minnesota State Parks, nature photography, Outdoors, Parks1 Comment

We hiked the Northern Unit of the Big Bog Recreation Area July 14^th, 2023.

Our adventure began on the Ludlow Pond Trail. Several people were fishing from the dock as we made our way around the pond.

The Big Bog Boardwalk entrance is about halfway around the pond. The boardwalk is a mile long.

Tamarack and Black Spruce make up many of the trees in the bog. The further away from the pond we traveled, the space between each tree increased.

Along the boardwalk there are numerous educational signs about the bog. I will post all the signs at the bottom of this blog.

We found an interesting looking red flower along the boardwalk. It’s called a Pitcher Plant and it eats insects!

A large open field greeted us at the end of the boardwalk. Unfortunately, we did not see any moose in the field. We turned around and headed back towards Ludlow Pond.

We completed the loop around the pond.

After our hike, we drove to the Southern Unit of the Big Bog State Recreation Area to climb the fire tower. The tower is 100 feet high with 135 steps.

The smoke from the Canadian fires was rather strong. Our view at the top of the fire tower was limited due to the hazy air.

Our hiking adventure was 2.3 miles.

Elba Fire Tower-Elba-Minnesota

July 22, 2022Posted in Adventure, hiking, Minnesota, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Elba Fire Tower, exploring, Fire Tower, hiking, Hiking Adventures, Minnesota, nature photography, Outdoors, Summer3 Comments

We hiked to the top of the Elba Fire Tower on June 24th, 2022.

The Elba Fire Tower was built in 1936 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. There are 637 steps to the base of the fire tower. Thankfully there are several places to stop and rest along the way up.