Sunday morning my wife and I woke up early and got a lot of the house chores done before the grandkids woke up. When they finally did get up for the day, I suggested that we take advantage of the sunshine and drive out to Nerstrand Big Woods State Park for a little hike. My oldest granddaughter loves to go for walks in the woods and we've never brought her out to this park, and my youngest grandaughter is at that perfect age where whatever her sister wants to do, she does too.

When we got out to the park, I paid $5 for a day pass to get in. It's $25 for a year pass, but I figured this would probably be the last chance at visiting any Minnesota state parks until spring. I checked out the map of trails and we decided that the path down to Hidden Falls and back would be the shortest, easiest and most interesting one for the girls to handle.

They loved the walk down and my eldest granddaughter would always stop and ask me to explain what the signs posted along the way said about the various aspects of the woods. As a matter of fact, did you know that the Nerstrand Big Woods State Park is only one of three areas in Minnesota and the world where the Minnesota Dwarf Trout Lily grows?

The water was still running fairly high, compared to other times in the past that I've visited the park, so the falls were looking pretty spectacular to the girls. They were a little leery to go near it at first but eventually warmed up to the idea after I ventured out to get some better shots of of it. They played around the falls for awhile and then we headed back up the trail, played on the swings for a bit and went home to grill some burgers for a late lunch. Just a warning, if you decide to make your way out there for a hike, the trails are a little wet and muddy so dress appropriately.

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