Kettle River – Neaton Adventures

St. Croix State Park-Hinckley-Minnesota

October 12, 2025Posted in Adventure, Christi Neaton, hiking, Hiking Minnesota, Minnesota, Minnesota State Parks, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Christi Neaton, exploring, hiking, Hiking Adventures, Hiking fall in Minnesota, Kettle River, Minnesota, Minnesota State Parks, nature photography, Outdoors, St. Croix State Park5 Comments

Today’s hiking adventure was at St. Croix State Park.

We began our adventure at the fire tower.

The change in weather, colorful trees, and crunchy footsteps, I LOVE IT ALL!!! I may have taken a few hundred photos today. Sit back and enjoy a little bit of fall from my part of the world!

Our hike began at the Kettle River Highbanks Scenic Vista Trail.

The Kettle River

We continued on the Kettle River Highbanks Trail.

The crunching sound of our boots stepping on the leaves is so relaxing.

Another Kettle River Overlook

Two Rivers Trail was the next trail we hiked.

It’s not fall without finding mushrooms and feathers along the trail.

The confluence of the St. Croix River and Kettle River.

The blue sky sure was trying to show through the thick clouds.

The trail veered away from the river.

We hiked the road back to our starting point.

Today’s hiking adventure was 8 miles.

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.

Banning State Park-Sandstone-Minnesota

October 15, 2022Posted in Adventure, hiking, Minnesota, Minnesota State Parks, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Banning State Park, exploring, hiking, Hiking Adventures, Kettle River, Minnesota, Minnesota State Parks, nature photography, Outdoors, Parks3 Comments

Today’s hiking adventure began at Banning State Park.

The weather was a cool 34 degrees as we started our hike. Mother Nature’s glitter coated the forest floor.

We hiked on the freshly fallen leaves towards Wolf Creek Trail.

Rocks jetted out from the forest floor along the trail.

Large boulders intermixed with the trees.

We arrived at Wolf Creek Falls.

Our adventure continued on a trail that was not labeled. Fall color popped everywhere we looked.

The green moss covering the rocks was so vibrant.

Large cliffs loomed above us. At times, we may have been on a deer trail, however, we continued on the small path before us.

We reached the Kettle River. What a sight!

We reached a dead end at a giant boulder along the river. We thought about getting into the river and wading around the boulder but due to the cold weather we decided that was a bad idea.

We backed up a bit and climbed up the cliffs. After catching our breath, we continued along a trail we found. After a few minutes on the cliff trail we looked below and saw another trail closer to the river. The trail looked too adventurous to pass up. So, down the cliffs we went.