Nerstrand Big Woods State Park & Geocaching in Faribault
March 12, 2005

 

Nerstrand Big Woods is one of the last remnants of "Big Woods" vegetation in Minnesota. It is located northeast of Faribault, about 45 miles south of the Twin Cities. After popping into the visitor center for a trail map, we found the trailhead for Hidden Falls. This time of year the falls were of course frozen, but they were definitely still picturesque. We took Beaver Trail west and came across a Hiking Club "secret password" sign and wondered what the Hiking Club was. From there we picked up the White Oak Trail north and east, then the Fawn trail which looped back west again. We were still feeling somewhat energetic, so we decided to add the Hope Trail loop to our route. We saw lots of squirrel and deer tracks, and some interesting blue-grey tree fungus. After catching the Fawn Trail again we headed toward the northeast corner of the park, then turned south as the trail followed alongside the Prairie Creek watershed. This valley was carved by ancient glacial runoff rushing through the area. We passed the falls a second time and continued south around the camping area and arrived back at the parking lot from the south. The quiet solitude in the park was refreshing -- besides the park ranger, we were probably the only park users. We made one more visit to the visitor center to inquire about the Hiking Club (we joined!) and to use the restrooms. Overall, we spent 2 hours and 42 minutes on the trail, covering 5.1 miles.

After leaving the park, we headed to the city of Faribault where we attempted to find a multi-stage geocache. However, we found one of the stages frozen in place and we had to abandon our search. We still enjoyed the hike, though.
 
Relevant links: Minnesota DNR
 Faribault, Minnesota		 Nerstrand Big Woods State Park

 
03-12-05: Jonas at the frozen Hidden Falls.

03-12-05: Another picture of Jonas and Hidden Falls.

03-12-05: This tree was so hungry it began to eat a board.

03-12-05: Julia and the board-eating tree. Freaky!

03-12-05: An interesting blue-grey fungus growing on the trunk of a tree.

03-12-05: Another view of the fungus. Too bad you can't see the colors as bright as they really were.

03-12-05: Jonas rehydrating while on the trail.

03-12-05: He was really thirsty!

03-12-05: A view of The Big Woods.

03-12-05: Here is another view of The Big Woods.

03-12-05: Julia in The Big Woods.

03-12-05: This tree had been attacked by woodpeckers.

03-12-05: This is a short movie clip resulting from Julia trying to take a picture of Jonas, not realizing the camera was on the movie setting.

03-12-05: Julia didn't realize what the problem was and tried again. This clip is a little longer and slightly more amusing as the light bulb finally turns on!

03-12-05: After all that, finally here is the picture of Jonas that Julia was trying to take all along.

03-12-05: A view of the Straight River from the bridge we were standing on.

03-12-05: Julia searching for the cache.

03-12-05: Julia stepping carefully down the steep, icy stairway in the park.