Scenic State Park

The past few days Noelle, Sierra and I have been adventuring down at Scenic State Park near Bigfork, Minnesota. We left home yesterday morning and made the drive south through the small communities of Littlefork, Big Falls, and Effie into Bigfork. It just happened to be Wilderness Days in Bigfork, and so we explored town a bit and checked out the happenings. Sierra got to feed a goat,

we checked out the Wanigan display,

admired the sculpture art,

watched an animal demonstration,

and watched Sierra bounce in a bounce house for a little while. After a picnic lunch and some ice cream, we headed into Scenic State Park to set up camp and then go for a swim in the lake.

We returned to camp for dinner and Sierra got to work on her "leaf and stick museum"

before we retired for the night.

It was raining when we woke up this morning, so rather than pack up a wet tent, we opted to head to Grand Rapids for breakfast and a little exploration. By the time we had returned to Scenic State Park the sun was out! We packed up our dry tent and then hit the trail,

hiking the Chase Point Esker. There were lady slippers in bloom,

along with bunchberry

and some other flowers. The hike was gentle, but afforded plenty of views of the 2 surrounding lakes.

At the turnaround point for the hike, among beautiful red pines, we watched a pontoon

and some kayaks ply the lakes.

Noelle and Sierra shared a hug,

and then we made our way back to the trailhead for the drive back to International Falls.