5 minute read
Fall Hiking at Lake Carlos
Fall Hiking
AT Lake Carlos STATE PARK
Story & photos by Jan Lasar
1,200-acre Lake Carlos State Park is popular destination just ten miles north of Alexandria on the Glacial Ridge Trail Scenic Byway. With more than 14 miles of hiking trails, you can explore stands of hardwood trees one minute, then cross a grassy meadow to a woodland pond or marsh the next. This combination of grassland, wetland, and wooded ridge makes the park a treat for hikers. During a camping trip last fall the weather was just about perfect: Temperatures in the 30s overnight and in the 50s during the day, with plenty of sunshine meant crisp, foggy mornings and balmy, bug-free afternoons.
Saturday morning started out foggy and frosty as expected, but we left our cocoon and hit the trails with gusto. For all the times we’d been to Lake Carlos State Park, we never made it to the very southeastern tip of the park, where the Long Prairie River State Water Trail exits Lake Carlos.
We started out on the Prairie Restoration Trail near the park entrance and ten minutes into our walk we were at our first sto, the scenic overlook and observation platform at Schumacher’s Slough. Normally it’s a hot spot for bird watching, but not that morning. It was a quiet day on the trail for both animals and people and we were happy to just walk in the sun. When we started, the frost was beginning to melt off the leaes and grasses exposed to the sun. Shaded areas were still solidly crusted with tiny spikes of ice, but as we continued on, things began to dry out and warm up.
The rairie Restoration, Wetland Overlook and Large Tooth Aspen Trails form a series of interconnected loops along the northeastern edge of the park that run into the Long Prairie River Trail. We decided to walk the outside edges of the loops on the way down and the insides on the return trip. When the Large Tooth Aspen Trail merged with the Long Prairie River Trail, we stepped out of the woods briefly and walked though an open section with grassy hills. The grass was brown and waiting to wake back up in the spring, but it made for a beautiful color combination with the yellow leaves of the aspen trees. And, yes, compared to the regular aspen, the leaves of the Large Tooth Aspen have rather large teeth along their edges. They ere on full display, raining from the rustling branches and littering the path ahead with golden highlights.
Thee was a slight change of scenery on the Long Prairie River Trail. The tees disappeared and the path ahead wound across more grassy knolls. Here, we could see houses poking their roofs over the tree line, another reminder that if it wasn’t for parks preserving land for us all to enjoy, only a few would have access to beautiful places.
The trail ended abuptly at a road but because of Jen’s superior navigation skills and the Avenza map of the park, we found we had to walk a few hundred yards down the street to get to the headwaters of the Long Prairie River.
Below: New canoe access at the headwaters of the Long Prairie River
The rier exits Lake Carlos, flws east and then north and flws into the Crow River in Motley, 95 miles later. The headwaters picnic area had just been refurbished with a new parking lot and signs, and a new canoe launch had been added just a few weeks ago. We sat and watched the water spill over the natural rock dam and had a snack. It was a little chilly in the shade and if it had been a little warmer, we could have had a takeyour-shoes-off-and-walk-acoss-the-river experience, similar to Itasca State Park.
Back at camp, the plan was to eat lunch and hike some more, but the weather was too lovely to not at least try to catch some fish.We bundled up and assumed position on one of the fishing docks near the campground. Nothing happened for a while and instead of our bobbers, we watched a group of coots diving and coming up with wriggling minnows in their beaks. The wind died dwn, the afternoon sun was strong and my eyelids got heavier with every splash of the waves on the beach. I had just nodded off when Jen elbowed me. “Your bobber is going down!”
It was a large sunfish and fom then on, the fishing was good and thee was no need for sleep. We reeled in bass and perch, but stopped a walleye and northern short of the Lake Carlos variety pack.
A bonfie topped off this grand da, and we stared into the flamesuntil our eyelids were too heavy once again.
Classic camper spotted in the lower campground
Right: The overlook at Schumacher's Slough / Below: Hidden Lake Group Center
The Central Lakes Trail Starts Here
BikeFergusFalls.com
Sunday’s weather wasn’t quite as nice. It was overcast, breezy and a bit chillier. Getting out for a hike took some willpower, but we always get motivated by thinking about how balmy it is compared to some of the winter walks we’ve done.
The estern portion of the park was more familiar territory. The aple Basswood, Red Oak, Prairie Pothole and Forestry Trails loop through this area and give you a variety of experiences with dense woods, rolling hills, open prairie, bogs and tiny ponds with the occasional boulder sprinkled in.
When we returned, a lot of campers had left and we began our departure procedure, too. We’re already making plans for next summer and exploring the Long Prairie River.
Adventures • Fall Colors • Family Fun Lakes/Trails • Great Food/Drink • Shopping
