Lewiston Agenda - Summer 2023


Over the winter, we realized we've never actually taken a trip with just our family. My husband and I have taken vacations and we've gone with my family or his family, but it's never been just us with our kids. Our children are 7, 5, and 3, and enjoy exploring and nature but need to work up stamina on hikes.

One way we hoped to build up that stamina and motivation was by buying our girls the books for the Minnesota State Parks Hiking Club and Passport Club. Read this post for more about these clubs and our plan to check out all of the parks.

We decided to plan our trip around some of these state parks and chose southeast Minnesota. I started by looking for Airbnb listings in the area for our timeframe, and once I found one in Lewiston, I put together an agenda using information from the Hiking Minnesota Facebook group, the Alltrails app, and the blog DayTripper.

This trip actually took us from Southwest Minnesota to Southeast Minnesota and then back home to Minneapolis, with stops along the way. Read more about individual stops by clicking the blue links below.

We began our trip in Southwest Minnesota visiting my parents. On a Tuesday in June, we headed east, making stops at Rice Lake State Park and Oxbow Park/Zollman Zoo. We ate at Recreation Bar and Cafe in Lewiston and headed to our Airbnb right outside of town (check out the listing here). We spent the evening at Farmer's Community Park, which was a large park right around the corner from the Airbnb.

Wednesday was spent at Whitewater State Park and Carley State Park, with a meal at Jimmy's Pizza in St. Charles. We spent more time at Farmer's Community Park, utilizing some of the outdoor games at the Airbnb, and then headed back to relax in the air conditioning.

On Thursday, we drove back to Minneapolis, stopping at the Zumbrota Covered Bridge, Nerstrand Big Woods State Park, and Boots and Lu's in Nerstrand for ice cream.

The full agenda can be found below, and I will be adding more detailed information and pictures about some of our stops in future blog posts. Drive time is based on Google Maps for the time and day we planned to be driving. Trail distance, difficulty, and estimated time is based on AllTrails listings, though we knew with three children it would take us more time.

On our trips, we usually pack our own food and snacks, stopping once a day at a restaurant. We try to stop at local restaurants and coffee shops as much as possible.

Tuesday 6/20/23

  • Depart Southwest Minnesota in the morning
  • Rice Lake State Park
    • Hiking Club Trail (Rice Lake Trail)
      • 2.4 mi easy, 44 min
      • Small wooden playground
      • Vault toilet
29 min
  • Oxbow Park and Zollman Zoo (Hours 10:00-4:00)
    • Nature Center, Zoo, Path of Imagination Playscape
    • Nice bathrooms
49 min
  • Eat at Recreation Bar and Cafe in Lewiston
5 min
  • Check in to Airbnb in Lewiston (anytime after 3)
    • Explore Farmers Community Park - bridge with arches, trails, bluff, old playground equipment

Wednesday 6/21/23

27 min

  • Whitewater State Park
    • Fun Visitor Center with lots of activities
    • Hiking Club Trail (Coyote Point Trail to Dakota Trail)
      • AllTrails map is 3.3 mi out and back, 1 hr 38 min
      • Hike from Visitor Center to the end, but instead of going back, cross the highway, continue to Chimney Rock, then walk back to the Visitor Center
13 min
  • Carley State Park
    • Carley State Park Hiking Club Loop
      • 1.9 mi easy, 39 min
      • Fun river crossings and wildflowers in the spring [there were no wildflowers left at the end of June]
      • The "playground" is just a swing set
17 min
  • Jimmy's Pizza in St. Charles
15 min
  • Back to Airbnb/Farmers Community Park

Thursday 6/22/23 (check out and leave by 11 a.m.)

1 hr 3 min

  • Coffee at Cabin Coffee Co. in St. Charles on the way
  • Zumbrota Covered Bridge
    • Minnesota's "only" covered bridge
    • Trails and nice bathrooms [we did not walk on the trails]
32 min
  • Nerstrand Big Woods State Park
    • Hiking Club Trail (Nerstrand Beaver Loop)
      • 2.5 mi, 1 hr 2 min
      • Fun, unique nature playground
      • Bathrooms with running water
  • Ice Cream at Boots and Lu's in Nerstrand
1 hr 5 min to home


Location: Lewiston, MN 55952, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trail of Small Wonders 2023 - Limited Time Event at Westwood Hills Nature Center

Image
Our family loves nature and loves free, so nature centers are a favorite for us. When planning a play date for my daughter and her friends at Westwood Hills Nature Center in St. Louis Park, we got the added bonus of checking out the Trail of Small Wonders. This year's event ends on July 29, so hurry over to check it out! Westwood Hills Nature Center is fun in itself. We first discovered it two summers ago, when we explored some of the 160 acres of trails, and saw a deer, turtles, and beekeepers working in the apiary. The nature center building is home to a few raptors outside and other small animals inside by the exhibits. The outdoor play area was being built at the time, so we were excited to return and see the final result. There is a small playground, a flowing water activity, and a nature play area where the kids built a fort with large branches. Now for the highlight of the day - The Trail of Small Wonders! The St. Louis Park Friends of the Arts offered a workshop on buildin
Read more

Whitewater State Park - Chimney Rock and Hiking Club Trail - Summer 2023

Image
This park had me at "No mosquitos!" Whitewater State Park (Altura, MN) is known for Chimney Rock and for not having (many) mosquitos due to very little standing water. We visited this park with our 7-, 5-, and 3-year-old on our trip to Lewiston, MN . I knew these trails would be a bit of a challenge for my children, which is why I wanted to start the day at this park. Make sure you bring plenty of water and be ready to take breaks. The Visitor Center had a lot of fun activities and we spent time there both before and after our hike. My children especially enjoyed the taxidermy animals, ranger outfits, and magnetic fishing activity. The Hiking Club Trail at this park is interesting, because the booklet tells you to just hike from the Visitor Center to the end of it and then loop back on the paved road/trails. The AllTrails version of this, Coyote Point Trail to Dakota Trail , has you going out and back on the same trail. Since we wanted to see Chimney Rock anyway, we decided t
Read more

George Crosby Manitou State Park in the Fall

Image
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. -"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost Have you heard of George Crosby Manitou State Park? This park is one of the least-visited state parks, despite it's location on the North Shore of Lake Superior. Is it "less traveled" due to quality? Absolutely not! There are two main reasons why this park isn't spoken of: location and trail difficulty.  It's off the main roads, so the park is a 20-minute drive from Highway 61. The trails themselves are tough - full of rocks and roots, narrow, and not always well-marked. This is by design - the park is intentionally under-developed to create more of a wilderness experience. This is precisely the reason I chose George Crosby Manitou as one of the stops on our North Shore weekend last fall (read about our full weekend and find our agenda here ). Huge bonus - it has a cascade waterfall! To get to the park, navigat
Read more