Trail Tales: Hiking Club Trail – Wild River State Park
Trail Tales: Hiking Club Trail – Wild River State Park
Wild River State Park stretches along the St. Croix River, offering a peaceful escape where forests, prairies, and river bluffs meet. The Hiking Club Trail, made up of the Walter F. Mondale River Trail and the Old Logging Trail, winds through a mix of dense woods and open spaces, giving hikers a chance to explore both nature and history with every step. I’ve hiked these trails in spring, summer, and early fall, and each season brings a new perspective.
The Walter F. Mondale River Trail meanders close to the river in places, where you can hear the gentle rush of water and spot sunlight glinting off its surface. The trail is primarily natural earth and packed sand, with occasional roots and soft soil that shift underfoot after rain. Towering pines and hardwoods line the path, their trunks thick and gnarled from years of growth. Spring brings fresh greenery and the hum of returning birds, while summer cloaks the trail in cool shade, broken by patches of sunlight that highlight ferns and moss along the forest floor. Fall paints the leaves in golds, oranges, and reds, and the crisp air carries the earthy scent of the woods as you walk.
The Old Logging Trail is fully paved, making it easy to navigate while still offering the feeling of being immersed in the forest. Stepping onto this trail is like walking through a living history book. Remnants of logging roads and the historic Nevers Dam tell the story of the 19th-century lumber industry, but it’s the trees that dominate the experience. White pines, oaks, and maples rising high above, their canopy creating pockets of shadow and light along the path. The trail winds gently, sometimes climbing small ridges that give brief, unexpected views of the river through the trees. Wildlife is abundant: deer often dart across the trail in spring, songbirds flit through the branches in summer, and squirrels prepare for winter in fall.
Hiking the Hiking Club Trail feels like moving through layers of time, from the roaring days of logging along the St. Croix to the present-day calm of the forest and river. Between the soft earth of the Walter F. Mondale River Trail, the smooth paved Old Logging Trail, the tall trees, and the rushing river, the trail offers a restorative experience for hikers of all levels.
No matter the season, walking these trails provides moments to pause and take in the sights, sounds, and smells of the forest, the river, and the park’s history. The Hiking Club Trail at Wild River State Park invites exploration and reflection, every step bringing something new into view.
Let’s keep rambling.
- Kelly