‘Hike in Place’ – 5 Hikes Near Our Home

We are finding that local parks are becoming increasingly busier during the time of COVID-19 and the warming spring weather, which is awesome! With all the ‘shelter in place’ orders being implemented to slow the spread of this virus, we believe that it is also a responsible thing to ‘hike in place’ during these times. This means hike local to reduce your impact to communities you might travel to on your way to the trail. Hike in place will also help reduce congestion at trailheads of popular trails. We spend so much time up north that we don’t often take the opportunity to explore local trails near us. We have taken advantage of the winter months and this pandemic time as an opportunity to explore trails close to home. We now start our Sunday mornings with a hike, usually trying to explore a new local trail. In a time like this, it is refreshing to see people taking advantage of outdoor places. I hope that after this pandemic is over we have a few more outdoor enthusiasts in the world. I also hope we have more litter hunters. Check out our recent podcast #32 Nigel the Litter Hunter to get yourself motivated to pick up trash while out exploring nature!

Here are a few trails close to our home that we’ve explored recently:

1) North Woods Preserve

This trail is short and simple. It’s about 2 miles of nature trail, perfect for a quick 30-minute hike.  If you do the loop a couple of times you can get a good 4 miles in. We enjoyed the beauty of nature so close to home. It was in the middle of housing developments so you do see houses along the perimeter of the preserve but it’s a gentle reminder that you can have an adventure in your very own backyard! We had the whole preserve to ourselves on an early, misty Sunday morning. It was fairly wet because it had rained the day before but still easy to hike along. The whole trail is flat making it a perfect trail for beginner hikers and families. This would be a great place to throw a pack on and get some experience hiking with a heavy load or take the kids out for some hiking practice! 

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2) Dalske Woodlands Preserve

This trail offers a Northwoods secluded feel and brings you a variety of scenery. An easy 30-minute hike and you could add more time if you did the loop a few times. There are a few loops that spur off the main trail and allow for some extra exploration. We only did one of the loops because the second one was underwater. The trail is adjacent to state forest land which you can also explore. Unfortunately, the trail going into the state forest was flooded so we didn’t get a chance to hike it. The preserve runs along some private property as well so be sure to respect the landowners and stay within the preserve.

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3) Lindwood Schoool Forest

This area offers beautiful scenery and unique opportunities for learning about your surroundings along the hike. It is part of Linwood Township and is used for educational purposes by the school, but open to the community for recreational use as well. There are plenty of areas to rest along the way with benches. There are educational trail signs at almost every trail intersection with visuals for you to learn about the habitat and wildlife within this forest. The trails also have very unique names like “Blueberry Pass” to make it fun for hiking with the whole family! We hiked for 3.5 miles and it’s easy to keep going all directions at each intersection of the trail to make this hike as long or as short as you’d like.

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4) Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park

This has been a local favorite area of ours, especially for snowshoeing, since living in the northern suburbs. It offers both paved and unpaved trails along the Mississippi River for scenic, refreshing views. You can also walk across a bridge to get a close-up view of the dam. Other parts of the trail bring you deep into the woods where you feel like you are in a secluded forest yet you are less than 1 mile away from Highway 610. The dam offers an “East” and “West” visitors area located across the river from each other. We always go to the east side just for convenience to home, but both sides offer nice hiking!

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5) Carver Park Reserve & Lowry Nature Center

This is a bit farther of a drive from the northern suburbs but it is well worth the visit. We had explored a different area of this park last winter while snowshoeing and decided to try a spring hike this year. Of course, with spring hiking on any trail comes muddy trails, so be prepared with proper attire, maybe even some dry socks in the car! The park offers many hiking trails for a variety of levels. We enjoyed the scenery along the hike and the loop we did was about 2 miles. There was some elevation changes along the way but it is still recommended for beginner hikers, just go at your own pace.  Be sure to read the Three Rivers Park District FAQ on COVID-19 before visiting the park so you know what to expect during this time. 

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We have found that hiking locally during the COVID-19 pandemic has been a positive way to get out, get moving and keep our minds refreshed during such an unknown time. We hope you are finding benefits in the outdoors during this time as well! Where have you been hiking locally? Let us know in the comments!

Peace, love, and hike thru life!