Last year for Christmas my little bro gave our family the State Park Challenge. He bought us each a State Park sticker and gave us a map with all the state parks and recreation areas. The challenge was for each family unit to visit as many of these parks and areas as possible in a year. I don’t recall if there was a prize for winning but it could be whatever you want or make the journey the prize.
So here’s some photos from the State Park Challenge over the past year:
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| We started with Bemidji State Park (since that was where we were celebrating Christmas). It was too cold to take any photos! |
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| Skiing on Pike Island at Fort Snelling State Park after work. Photo: Erik |
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| And skiing at William O-Brien State Park. Photo: Erik |
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| What I think of taking pictures in front of signs, here at the St. Croix Boom site. Photo: Erik |
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| The cool tunnel (full of colorful graffiti) below the St. Croix Boom Site. Photo: Erik |
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| Doing some bouldering with our friends at Interstate State Park |
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| A paddle on the Minnesota River at the Minnesota River State Recreation Area. Photo: Erik |
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| High Falls at Tettegouche State Park. |
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| The swinging bridge (on the Superior Hiking Trail) above High Falls at Tettegouche |
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| Snowy, icy gorge at Temperance River State Park |
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| The frozen spray everywhere at Cascade River State Park |
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| The lower waterfall at Cascade River State Park |
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| This weird thing behind us is a frozen waterfall at Judge CR Magney State Park. Photo: Erik (because his arms are longer and we're too cheap to buy a selfie stick:) |
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| Playing on some ice that was incredibly grippy at Judge CR Magney State Park |
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| One of the many, many waterfalls at Gooseberry Falls State Park. We did a hike that included every bridge in the state park- including the hwy 61 bridge twice- on top and on bottom! Photo: Erik |
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| I had lots of fun bouncing on the swinging bridge at Jay Cooke State Park and was quite amazed by the granite in the river gorge. Photo: Erik |
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| The Kettle River flows through Banning State Park. Someday we're gonna run these rapids. Current water levels were low. Photo: Erik |
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| We climbed this fire tower at St. Croix State Park. Photo: Erik |
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| And the view from the top. Photo: Craig |
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| We stopped for a brief hike and some playground time at Nerstrand Big Woods.
We'll see if we can squeeze in a couple more state parks before the end of the year!
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