Interstate State Park (WI)

Last year, one of my posts was about hiking at Interstate State Park. That was the Minnesota side of this wonderful State Park. Across the border in Wisconsin, the park is even larger, offering many trails, and some great places to camp. I spent a couple of nights camping at a nice campsite in the south Campground of the park.

We arrived at the campground in the late afternoon on a Friday, and quickly set up the tent. I got a fire going, and we cooked some hot dogs and roasted some Marshmallows. Then the rain set in. It rained on and off into the early morning, but it was fine, as we were dry in the tent.

The next morning, we grabbed some bananas and drove into St. Croix falls for a cup of coffee at a small coffee shop. We walked around the small downtown for a while and headed back into the park. By this time, it was 10:30 or so and we began our hike through the park. We started at our campsite in the south Campground, right next to the trailhead of the Eagle Peak trail. The trail went on for a little less than a mile, heading uphill through the woods to a rocky area that provided a nice view (Eagle Peak).

From Eagle peak, we walked down the trail, and quickly connected to the skyline trail, which starts at the group camp area. The skyline trail goes through the woods, and requires you to walk underneath some downed trees along a trail that goes on for about a mile and a half, which ends at the visitor center.

The visitor center is a nice place to take a break. There are some exhibits showing pictures of creatures that roamed the earth during the Ice age thousands of years ago. There are a few fossils, as well, including a mammoth tooth! There are bathrooms at the visitor center, and this is also the place to buy wood and ice at the park, amongst other random items that you may want.

After our break at the visitor center, we were off to the next trail, one that lead us to the Pothole trail. The pothole trail was an exciting trail, with cliffs overlooking the St. Croix river. There were people climbing the rock faces, which were probably about 50 feet high. It was a short, but exciting trail, with some great photo opportunities along the trail.

We walked along the street on our way back to the campsite, and saw a beaver not far from the road. It was fun to see the animal scurry through the woods, though we didn't get much of a picture. We got pretty close, but there were some plants in between us and the beaver.

After we made our way back to the camp, we decided to check out the downtown of Taylor's falls for a late lunch (it was 2:30). We found a place with a large rotating root beer mug (I think it is called the Drive-in). It was a nice place to grab a burger and fries. After our lunch, we were off, and after a walk into the Minnesota side of Interstate State Park, we drove back to camp. The sleep was much better on this, the second night, as there was very little rain and we were pretty tired after a long day of hiking.

If you are looking for a quick getaway from the twin cities, I definitely recommend Interstate State Park. It is only an hour away, and provides enough to do for a great weekend.