Winter hiking – Neaton Adventures

Battle Creek Regional Park-Maplewood-Minnesota

March 11, 2023Posted in Adventure, hiking, Minnesota, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Battle Creek, Battle Creek Regional Park, exploring, hiking, Hiking Adventures, Minnesota, nature photography, Outdoors, Parks, Winter, Winter hiking2 Comments

Today’s hiking adventure was at Battle Creek Regional Park.

Snow. Snow. SNOW! Minnesota has gotten so much snow this winter. We shall rename our state Minnesnowta. Snow fell throughout our entire hike. It sure was beautiful though.

We started our hike through part of the dog park. Ski trails win during the winter months at most parks. Sometimes finding the winter hiking trails takes a bit of map reading, exploring unusual areas, and hoping for the best. Once on the other side of the dog park, we hiked for a bit on the paved trail.

The ice on the trail was definitely covered by the fresh snow. I fell once, then my cousin and I both fell at the same time. We had a good laugh and then put on our Yaktrax. The next photo cracks me up. This is my proof of my tumble.

The paved trail ended and we were then hiking on the side of the road. The park was on our right and we could see there was an unpaved trail up on the hill, but how do we get there? Well, we made our own trail. Up the hill we hiked, and we were not disappointed.

The unpaved trail looped us up and down the hills and through the forest. We jumped back on the paved trail once we reached Battle Creek. The fresh snow, the flowing creek, and the sandstone bluffs created a beautiful winter wonderland.

With the creek flowing next to us, we continued our adventure on the paved trail.

A bright red Cardinal graced our presence.

We continued on the paved trail until we reached our starting point.

Today’s hiking adventure was 6.4 miles.

Purgatory Creek Park-Eden Prairie-Minnesota

January 14, 2023Posted in Adventure, hiking, Minnesota, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Eden Prairie, exploring, hiking, Hiking Adventures, Minnesota, nature photography, Outdoors, Parks, Purgatory Creek Park, Staring Lake, Winter, Winter hiking1 Comment

Today’s hiking adventure began at Purgatory Creek Park.

We hiked Purgatory Creek Park this past summer and loved it! So of course, we had to see how everything looked covered in snow. Wow! We were not disappointed. A happy face greeted us as soon as we hit the trail.

The paved trail was covered in ice. Thankfully, we had our Yaktrax in our bags so we slipped them on. It was our first time wearing our Yaktrax and we could not believe how amazingly they worked.

We veered off the main trail towards a narrow bridge which crossed over part of the lake. Most of the lake was frozen except near the bridge.

Back on the paved trail, it was interesting to see leaves still on the trees.

We took another detour off the main path. There was a narrow walkway that led to an overlook of the wildlife area.

We continued our hike towards Staring Lake.

We hiked on the frozen Staring Lake.

The trees looked so beautiful covered in snow. At times, a gentle breeze would blow the snow off the trees which would catch the sunlight creating a glittery winter wonderland all around us.

We hiked back to our starting point crossing over the partially frozen creek.

Today’s hiking adventure was 7.4 miles.

Best of 2022-Minnesota

December 31, 2022Posted in Adventure, hiking, Minnesota, Minnesota State Parks, Mississippi River, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Best of 2022, exploring, hiking, Hiking Adventures, Minnesota, Minnesota State Parks, nature photography, Outdoors, Parks, Photography, Winter, Winter hiking3 Comments

This past year, my cousin and I hiked 36 Minnesota State Parks and 30 different Parks and Trails. Whether it was raining, snowing, or the sun was shining…we hiked. Our hiking adventures accumulated to a total of 348 miles in 2022!

Minnehaha Falls-Minneapolis

Crow-Hassan Park Reserve-Rogers

Cottage Grove Ravine Regional Park-Cottage Grove

St. Croix State Park-Hinckley

Elba Fire Tower-Elba

Great River Bluffs State Park-Winona

Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park-Preston

Myre-Big Island State Park-Albert Lea

Blue Mounds State Park-Luverne

Broken Down Dam Park-Fergus Falls

Lake Shetek State Park-Currie

Upper Sioux Agency State Park-Granite Falls

Big Stone Lake State Park-Ortonville

Glacial Lakes State Park-Starbuck

Sibley State Park-New London

Flandrau State Park-New Ulm

Charles A. Lindbergh State Park-Little Falls

Crow Wing State Park-Brainerd

Quarry Park and Nature Preserve-Waite Park

Banning State Park-Sandstone

Salem Hills Park-Inver Grove Heights

Theodore Wirth Regional Park-Golden Valley

Louisville Swamp-Shakopee

Happy New Year! Cheers to more adventures in 2023!

Richfield Lake-Richfield-Minnesota

March 6, 2022Posted in Adventure, hiking, Minnesota, Nature, Outdoors, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, exploring, hiking, Hiking Adventures, Minnesota, nature photography, Outdoors, Parks, Richfield, Richfield Lake, Winter, Winter hiking2 Comments

Minnesota had its first rainstorm of the year yesterday. During the overnight hours the rain turned to snow. I woke up to a magical winter wonderland of snow covered ice. Due to the icy roads, I decided to stay close to home. Richfield Lake is a small lake with a paved path surrounding it.

With a variety of trees and plant life covered in a fresh thick layer of snow, a winter paradise was created.

Raindrops froze in place overnight.

Several crossing bridges around the lake allow access to the surrounding neighborhoods.

There are plenty of places to rest and enjoy the view.

Many different species of birds and small wildlife call Richfield Lake home throughout the year. Today I was able to capture rabbit tracks in the snow.

Today’s winter wonderland hiking adventure was 3 miles.

Reservoir Woods-Roseville-Minnesota

February 5, 2022Posted in Adventure, hiking, Minnesota, Nature, Outdoors, UncategorizedTagged Adventure, exploring, hiking, Hiking Adventures, Lake McCarrons, Minnesota, nature photography, Outdoors, Parks, Reservoir Woods, Roseville, Trout Brook Regional Trail, Winter, Winter hiking7 Comments

Even though the temperature was 10 degrees, the wind chill took it to a -12 this morning. Gray clouds covered the sky as we started our hiking adventure this morning at Reservoir Woods. Without any maps posted of the Reservoir Woods Trail we quickly found ourselves hiking off the paved trail and into the woods.

The snow covered trail allowed us to walk under the mighty pine trees. We even found a holiday decorated tree. Once through the pine tree grove we began hiking again on the paved Reservoir Woods Trail until we reached Lake McCarrons.

We continued our hike across the frozen lake. A beautiful fox jetted out and ran past us until it reached the middle of the lake. The fox watched us as we continued our hike to the other side of the lake.

The Trout Brook Regional Trail began once we reached the other side of the lake. The Trout Brook Creek was only partially frozen allowing ducks to gather by the dozens.

With our cheeks feeling like a thousand bee stings, we ended our hiking adventure at 5.9 miles.

Lebanon Hills Regional Park-Eagan-Minnesota

January 29, 2022Posted in UncategorizedTagged Adventure, Dakota County, Eagan, exploring, hiking, Hiking Adventures, Lebanon Hills, Minnesota, nature photography, Outdoors, Parks, Winter, Winter hiking1 Comment

Today’s hiking adventure was at one of my favorite parks, Lebanon Hills. The trails wind around many different lakes and ponds allowing for diverse landscapes. With the sun shining on us as we hiked, it felt much warmer than 14 degrees.

The best part of hiking in the morning is catching the sun rise up through the trees.

There is something almost magical about hiking across frozen lakes. Being able to stop in the middle of the lake offers such a different perspective. Today we were able to explore a small island on one of the lakes we visited.

We ended our adventure after hiking 5.5 miles. Pausing for a moment, we watched several swans swim around a small section of water on Lake Holland that wasn’t frozen due to the water being aerated.