Mississippi River Regional Trail

Today’s hiking adventure began at Spring Lake Park Reserve.

Finally, the weather felt like spring! With the sun shining and the temperature decent, we began our hike on the Mississippi River Greenway Trail towards Schaar’s Bluff.

The park has recently added bison to the land. We were excited to catch a glimpse of them as we hiked by. Unfortunately, the bison were grazing out of sight. We continued on the trail hoping to catch them on the return trip.

The first bridge we crossed offered a great view of the Mississippi River and the valley below.

The trail curves and bends around the bluffs.

The view of the Mississippi River from an overlook.

This tree had a huge burl. We had to stop and get a closer look. The tree was completely hollow inside.

We reached Schaar’s Bluff. Thankfully, their Gathering Center was open. After looking around the center, back outside we went to take in another view of the Mississippi River.

Our plan was to turn around and head back, however, the day was too perfect to end our hike so soon. We carried on to the Lock and Dam #2. The trail led us past someone’s personal art sculptures. I made sure to take pictures of the bison sculptures in case we missed the real ones.

The trail led to one of my favorite places in Hastings. The trail cuts in between the Mississippi River and Lake Rebecca Park.

An eagle was on the edge of the ice on the river as it looked for a snack on the open water.

Lots of giant nests along the river.

Lock and Dam #2 was closed. After a quick rest we decided to head back to our starting point. As we hiked past an open farm field, we saw at least 24 deer run across it. I’m not sure where they came from or where they were going but WOW! That was a lot of deer. We also saw an owl take off from the ground. As soon as the owl landed, it must have turned its invisibility cloak on because… poof, it was gone. We were happy to have had other animal sightings since we were unable to see the bison, although, we were still hoping to catch a glimpse of them.

We found them! The bison were out grazing in the far end of the East Paddock. There were about 6 of them.

Today’s hiking adventure was our longest hike to date at 19.5 miles.

Today’s hiking adventure began at Point Douglas Park.

Brrrrr! It was a cold start to our adventure. Fog danced on top of the two merging rivers: St. Croix River and Mississippi River.

We left the park hiking on Point Douglas Regional Trail.

We crossed the Hasting Bridge where the mighty Mississippi River flowed under us.

Hastings majestic City Hall appeared as we exited the bridge and continued our hike on the Mississippi River Regional Trail.

A quick stop at Lake Rebecca offered a colorful view.

A giant eagle perched above us looking down at the Mississippi River waiting for its next meal.

Turkey vultures soared above us.

Some rested on a tower.

Our next stop along the trail was Lock and Dam #2.

Just after the Lock and Dam #2, the trail led us to a wider view of the Mississippi River. Here we decided to turn around and hike back to Point Douglas Park.

Fall is a magical time of year. The leaves are so colorful and the mid-morning sun warmed us from the cool air.

The train tracks were getting used today! We saw many trains pass by us on the different railways.

As we approached our starting point we decided to cross the Fort Douglas Bascule Bridge and hike into Prescott, Wisconsin. We took in the view of the BNSF Lift Bridge that was built in 1984 for trains to cross over the river.