GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — Our first stop of the second season on "Hitting The Trails," is Frontenac State Park located 10 miles south of Red Wing in Goodhue County.
"You can look upstream or downstream for miles. It's a wonderful place," said DNR Parks and Trails Director Erika Rivers.
It has amazing views of Lake Pepin and the Mississippi River Valley along with being a destination for birding.
"What this park is really known for is birds and wildflowers. We have documented about 260 different species of birds in the park," said Rivers.
An important part of maintaining a park's ecosystem is by doing a controlled burn, it's something that hadn't been at Frontenac in more than a year because of the pandemic.
"What this does is mimic our natural ecosystem process of wildland fire. It helps us release the native species within these landscapes so that our prairies and our landscapes are back to their native conditions," Rivers said.
There's plenty of space to hike in the nearly 2,300 acre state park with 13 miles of paved and unpaved trails that meander through a variety of landscapes.
One of the quintessential spots in the park is a limestone arch called, "In Yan Teopa Rock." It's a Dakota name that means a rock with a hole.
Cost of admission to Minnesota state parks is $7 daily or $35 for a year pass.
You can click on this DNR link for more information.