St. Croix Valley
Trail mix
For people on the go, the river town of St. Croix Falls is a crossroads.
In St. Croix Falls, Wis., all paths lead to enlightenment.
Hiking on the 1,000-mile Ice Age National Scenic Trail, bicycling the 48-mile Gandy Dancer State Trail or paddling on the 252-mile St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, people follow a path that was cut by a 600-foot-high wall of ice and traversed by woodland nomads, fur traders and railway laborers.
Visitors can soak up lore galore about ancient and natural history. But the real revelation here is St. Croix Falls, the unassuming river village that's at the start of it all.
Sweden in Minnesota
Prowling antiques shops around Lindstrom, visitors find a beloved heritage.
Walking around Lindström, it's not hard to guess where the area's first settlers came from.
If the multitude of umlauts don't give it away, the herds of Dala horses and straw goats will. Factor in the giant white coffee pot in the sky, and you can be pretty sure this is Swedish country.
In the 1850s, poor Swedes came pouring into the lakes country west of Taylors Falls. It wasn't the best farmland, but it was
cheap, and it looked like Sweden — lots of water, lots of trees and, unfortunately, lots of rocks.
Snug on the St. Croix
In Minnesota's Wild River State Park, a guesthouse lets guests dwell in comfort amid 7,000 acres of beauty.
In the middle of Minnesota's Wild River State Park, a ski’s length from 35 miles of groomed trails and a 10-minute trek from the St. Croix River, sits a cozy little house surrounded by forest.
For one winter night, the two-bedroom, carpeted house, a private residence built not long before the park was established in 1978, belonged to me and my children.
We arrived at dusk, and my children swarmed over it as only children can do, giving a running commentary: "Boy, this is a nice cabin,’’ said my son Peter. "Wow, a nice shower. Isn’t this great? And oh, look’’ — he peered out the window at a big thermometer — "you can tell the temperature.’’
A sortie along the St. Croix
On autumn days, this scenic valley is dressed to impress.
On a lovely day in fall, few places show off this region better than the St. Croix River Valley between Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The 52-mile stretch from Taylors Falls to the St. Croix’s confluence with the Mississippi at Prescott has everything a tourist could want — shops, historic houses, theaters, train excursions, boat cruises.
But mostly, it has scenery — scenery I wanted to show my nieces Alissa and Livia, who had left Florida to start careers in the Twin Cities. As it turns out, the St. Croix looks awfully good to people raised in Florida.
Getaway on the St. Croix
The Wisconsin river town of Hudson has a treat for every visitor.
From the beginning, the St. Croix River has shaped Hudson's identity.
The first settlers came by canoe on the fur-trade highway. The first steamboat docked in 1847, and soon logs were floating down the St. Croix to sawmills in Hudson and its neighbor on the Minnesota side, Stillwater.
Hudson's 1913 toll bridge became a landmark on the St. Croix, fattening town coffers after the lumber boom ended. The bridge
closed in 1951, but its raised bed still stretches partway over the river, giving residents and visitors a place to stroll on
warm summer evenings.
Summer in Stillwater
This historic Minnesota river town is a favorite weekend getaway.
After more than 150 years, this Minnesota river town's unrefined early days are history.
Once, legions of unkempt lumberjacks mobbed the streets of Stillwater, spending their wages at saloons and bordellos. Now, mobs of weekend tourists roam through town, sipping cappuccinos, sampling wine and shopping for gifts and antiques.
Stillwater has come a long way since the days when King Pine ruled. Reminders of the era are everywhere, however, in mills
that now house antiques malls and splendid Victorian houses.
Chocolate on the St. Croix
For a spring tour, inns overflow with goodies.
When the innkeepers of the St. Croix Valley were trying to think of a way to get prospective guests through their doors, they didn't have to think long.
Hmm, they thought. Chocolate would make people come running. Let's offer wine-tasting, too. And gifts and discounts for those who reserve rooms.
Oh, it's almost diabolical.
Sightseeing on the St. Croix
Thanks to glaciers, Taylors Falls is the Pothole Capital of the World.
There’s only one place in the Midwest where potholes are a tourist attraction instead of a nuisance.
Standing at the bottom of the 35-foot-deep Bake Oven, touching walls as smooth as vinyl, it’s easy to imagine the scene 10,000 years ago, when sheets of water from a melting glacier roared past Taylors Falls, into what now is the St. Croix River Valley.
They came with such fury that whirlpools laced with sand and gravel drilled cylindrical holes into solid rock — potholes, the world’s deepest.
Savoring the Seven Lakes
A ride on Wisconsin's newest trail yields scenery, serenity and ice cream.
Most people think bicyclists ride for exercise. But really, it’s for the ice-cream stop.
Wisconsin’s newest touring trail, the Stower Seven Lakes between Dresser and Amery, has everything you’d want on a bicycle trail. It’s got scenery. It’s got beaches and picnic spots.
And in Amery, it has the soda fountain of your dreams. Just look for the place with all the people.
Bargain-hunting in Stillwater
In this St. Croix river town, shops harbor all kinds of treasures.
When spring is a tease and days are gray, only one sport always comes through: Shopping.
And where better to shop than Stillwater? The little village on the Minnesota side of the St. Croix River has a Main Street that’s chockablock with antiques, books and bibelots from around the globe, filling every inch of storefronts once occupied by the blacksmiths and haberdashers and apothecaries of the logging era.
In summer, its streets are clogged with tourists, out to enjoy the riverside ambiance as well as the merchandise (See
Summer in Stillwater).
© Beth Gauper, 2007 - 2013 all rights reserved
