Folsom House and William O'Brien State Park

This morning I headed south out of the Northland and into warm Minnesota for a visit to the St. Croix Valley. My first stop was in Taylors Falls at the Folsom House, the home of lumber baron W.H.C. Folsom. The home was built in the 1850s and featured a lot of the original furniture.

From Taylors Falls I headed further south to Marine on St. Croix. In town I checked out the very unimpressive Marine Mill historic site. It is the first mill built in Minnesota but you can't even see it at the site. I don't know if things have gotten too overgrown or if it has crumbled to oblivion, but I was very disappointed. From the mill site I headed to William O'Brien State Park where I hiked the 6 mile long Hiking Club loop.

The trail traversed some beautiful prairies and the park reminded me of a bit of a combination of the two previous parks I've worked in McConnell Springs and Wind Cave National Park.

On my hike I went over the 75 mile mark in the Hiking Club and so obtained my new patch at the contact station when I registered for my campsite for the night.