Heartland State Trail

We discovered this great trail here in Park Rapids. We don’t have our bikes with us, so we decided to walk along part of the trail. Yesterday we walked for about 1-1/2 hours. Today I decided we should try for 2 hours. We figure we walked over 6 miles today. I’m pooped! Here’s a description of the trail from the website. What a great find!

“The Heartland State Trail was one of the first rail-to-trail projects in the country. It is a 49 mile multiple use trail between Park Rapids and Cass Lake. The trail is located entirely on a level abandoned railroad grade except for a four mile segment north of Walker, on sharply rolling terrain. The 27 mile segment between Park Rapids and Walker has a paved surface. This segment also has a second grassy treadway for horseback riding and mountain biking.”

Yesterday we drove about 12 miles south of here to Menahga to check out another campground. It was nice for tents and smaller campers. There were just too many low hanging branches to risk taking our camper in there next time we visit.

We also stopped at the St. Urho statue in Menahga. This area is very Norwegian. The town has chosen to honor St Urho, patron saint of the Finnish vineyard workers. You can read all about him below. Can you say Uff-da! (No offense, Cathryn!)

We also spent about an hour yesterday walking around the downtown of Park Rapids. It's a quaint little town with the typical tourist shops and some Northwoods shops. I'm happy to say I didn't buy anything except a birthday card for Korey's birthday tomorrow.

One last thing for today. I have seen a couple of black squirrels up here. I’ve never seen one before. This was the best picture I could get.

Time to get going. Korey will be here in about an hour!