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Other stories in "Spring scenery"

• 15 great trails to ride in spring
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• Bird walks
  In spring, a symphony of trills and chirps draws hikers into the woods.
• 15 great spring hikes
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• 10 great spring drives
  When weather warms, the urge to hit the road is irresistible.
• Out of the forest and into the frying pan
  As days get warmer, mushroom hunters get ready to root out the wily morel.
• Wildflowers of the North Shore
  On the shores of Lake Superior, delicate blooms mark the return of warmth.
• Chasing spring wildflowers
  On a road trip into the Mississippi River Valley, see the region's best array of blooms.
• Sugarbush safari
  Running sap is cause for celebration in the maple forest.
• Spring bird festivals
  After a long winter, birders welcome return of feathered friends.
• Spring in Door County
  On this Wisconsin peninsula, a vast array of wildflowers rewards those weary of winter.
• Birding by rail
  On Wisconsin's Chippewa River, a little train rolls into a bird-watcher's Eden.
• Tiptoeing through the toothwort
  With their cameras, nature-lovers try to capture the fleeting joys of spring.
• Spring in full glory
  For a piece of quiet, visit a state natural area.
• Pilgrimage to the Baraboo Hills
  The sandy soil of central Wisconsin is a springboard for naturalists, past and present.
• Itching for spring
  It's coming, in all its glorious bounty. Here's what to watch for and where to go.

Best of spring

Suddenly, our time in the sun has arrived.

Winter was a wimp this year, but most of us still want to bust out and enjoy the outdoors.

We want to take a spring drive, see fiddlehead ferns unfurl and surround ourselves with that delicate shade of chartreuse that seems to tint the air green.

We want to try out a new bike trail, find the mother lode of morels and watch colorfully attired folks dance in clogs or around a maypole.

Here are our picks for the best things to do in spring 2012.

Best festivals: This is prime time for ethnic festivals: Mexicans celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Norwegians celebrate Syttende Mai and the Dutch celebrate tulip time.

In the Amanas, Germans celebrate Maifest May 4-6. And in Minneapolis, progressives celebrate with a May Day parade May 6.

Best bicycling: If you're looking for someplace new, head for Iowa's 25-mile High Trestle Trail, which connects five towns north of Des Moines. It's named for a new 13-story, half-mile-long bridge that's covered with artwork.

And two old favorites are especially nice in spring: the Root River through Lanesboro, prized for its morel-hunting, spring wildflowers and trout fishing; and the Grand Rounds through Minneapolis, which passes the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Quaking Bog in Wirth Park, as well as the Chain of Lakes.

Best hiking: Not every hike has to be through a park or wilderness area. One of my favorites in spring is the 20-mile shore path around Geneva Lake in southeast Wisconsin, a resort area that can get a little manic later in the season.

When we hiked it over Memorial Day, it was lined with tulips, flowering trees and pasqueflowers — and mansions, of course — and barely anyone was there.

For more dramatic scenery, head for Starved Rock State Park along the Illinois River. You can hike through canyons carpeted with bluebells any time, but guided 13½-mile Mega-Hikes through all the canyons are held April 28-29.

Best paddling: After snowmelt, rivers are pretty lively everywhere. But you might as well choose a southern river that tends to get low as summer wears on — say, the Upper Iowa near Decorah, lined with stone chimneys and palisades that look more like Utah than Iowa.

It's also fun to paddle down the twisting Kickapoo in southwest Wisconsin, whose orchards are covered with apple blossoms in spring. It's also a quieter time; later in the year, the canoe flotillas frighten away the abundant wildlife.

Best road trip: In April, we celebrate Earth Day, which was founded by Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, which also gave us conservationist Aldo Leopold and John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club.

So spring is a good time to head for the Baraboo Hills in south-central Wisconsin and take what I call the Muir Tour.

It includes stops at Leopold's famous shack, the former homestead of John Muir's family, the International Crane Foundation and Parfrey's Glen, the state's first natural area.

Or, pick out some of Wisconsin's Rustic Roads to explore. My favorites are around La Crosse, and there are other clusters in Door County, the southeast tip of the state and in Polk and Burnett counties in the west.

Best shopping: Since we all love a road trip in spring, why not kill two birds with one stone? The 70-mile drive around Lake Pepin is a favorite destination, and that'll be part of the 100-Mile Garage Sale May 4-6.

On the Wisconsin side of Lake Pepin, the Fresh Art Spring Tour is May 18-20. And in the scenic bluffs of southeast Minnesota and northeast Iowa, the Bluff Country Studio Art Tour is April 27-29.

Best agate-hunting: It's pretty much always good in the eastern Minnesota town of Moose Lake, where hunters can get free permits to look in three gravel pits. To see what you're looking for, head for the Agate Geological and Interpretive Center in Moose Lake State Park.

But the beaches of the North Shore have much better scenery, and the best time to look is at the end of winter, after storms have deposited a fresh layer of rubble on beaches. Just bring warm clothes.

Best birding: Serious birders go nuts in April and May, because there's so much to do and so many bird festivals to attend.

If you're a beginner who doesn't have high-powered binoculars or a spotting scope, reserve a spot in a blind during the Prairie Chicken Festival in central Wisconsin April 13-15.

You'll get to see the love-crazed males in full courtship mode, booming, dancing and sparring with rivals, in the feathered version of chest-thumping.

And if you want to stay a little warmer, go Birding by Mini-Train April 29 along the Chippewa River from Durand, Wis.

Best camping: Since spring weather is so unpredictable, nab a reservation at a camper cabin, which will give you a roof. They're very popular, but not so much in spring. Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois have lots; Wisconsin has only a few "indoor group camps.''

Iowa also has cabins with kitchens and baths that go for $50, about the same as a camper cabins. We like the ones in Backbone State Park, which also has a beautiful lakeshore path and a wide array of spring ephemerals.

Best waterfalls: Look north for these. In fact, the best one is half in Canada: High Falls in Grand Portage State Park, at the tip of Minnesota's North Shore.

They're also roaring across northern Wisconsin, from Big Manitou Falls in Pattison State Park to Copper and Brownstone Falls in Copper Falls State Park.

Best flora: In spring, I like to haunt state natural areas, which are like state parks except smaller and without services or staff. Many of them were created to protect rare or unusual plants.

My favorite is Mound Prairie SNA in southeast Minnesota, on the Historic Bluff Country Scenic Byway between Houston and Hokah. It's a goat prairie with a fringe of hardwood forest, so you'll see a big range of blooms in mid-May.

For a completely different array of blooms, head to Ridges Sanctuary in Door County, during its Memorial Day weekend Festival of Nature, if possible. Its unusual landforms give it rare orchids, bog plants and endangered wildflowers, such as the dwarf lake iris.

Best morel-hunting: It's wherever you find them, and finding them is the trick. Whitewater State Park and the adjoining wildlife area is famous for morel mushrooms, so start there.

For guaranteed morel-finding, go to a festival. Many have guided hunts, and you can always buy them.

Michigan calls itself the morel state, and the Mushroom Festival in Mesick, near Cadillac, is May 11-13. In Boyne City, MorelFest is May 17-20.

And on the Wisconsin River in Muscoda, Morel Mushroom Festival is May 19-20.

Best cheap trips: For ideas, see Cheap spring getaways.

 

Last updated on March 29, 2012