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The occasionally annual Minnesota Governor's Ride was scheduled for St. Croix State Park. I say occasionally scheduled because this was only the second such event that had taken place in three years.
Three years ago, the state's governor rode in northwestern Minnesota. Last year, the ride was cancelled due to lack of snow. This year there was snow, but no governor. Seems the newly elected Republican governor, Arne Carlson, felt that snowmobilers weren't a big enough constituency. Surprising for a politician who barely squeezed to victory over the frequently flaky incumbent, Rudy Perpich, who had made the initial governor's ride. But, I digress, with the current guv's low popularity ratings, we fully expect he'll be wherever this year's ride takes place.
While the lack of an official gubernatorial stand-in was unfortunate, it did make for shorter speeches at the "official" get together functions along the way. And, while the hard-working snowmobilers who made this ride a reality didn't get much official state support, they did make Hinckley and Pine County, Minnesota the focal point for the state's snowmobilers for a few days last February.
For the record, Hinckley's snowmobilers had representatives from all four of the world's major snowmobile manufacturers, including the three who claim Minnesota as their main snowmobile headquarters. Minnesota-bred Polaris and Arctic Cat joined with newly Minnesota enfranchised Yamaha and Wisconsin-based Bombardier USA to make the ride a successful venture. The actual governor's ride itself was a short 13 mile jaunt through St. Croix State Park. Don't get the wrong impression of this Minnesota park. There are substantially more miles of trail available than were utilized for this event. In fact, if you tire of the park, you can hook up to snowmobile trails which can take you just about anywhere in the state - if you have a good map - good sense of direction and lots of time.
In fact, while we don't normally restrict our sledding to a single park, we'd make this one a major exception. St. Croix State Park is exceptional. Before the guv's ride, I conned a friend into helping me scout the park. I was anticipating a nice little park with nice little parking, nice little trails, and a nice quick return home. Surprise, surprise. This park is a great day or weekend getaway for the family.
I discovered excellent trails, well marked, well maintained, and not too crowded (everyone else must have the same stereotyped image of this park that I had)!
In fact, at one end of the park's trail, we left the official confines of St. Croix State Park and ventured onto the neighboring state forest trail. Not a good idea on that day. The trails were abysmal - and uncomfortable too! We headed back for the St. Croix where we poked around the various river landing sites and explored about 85 percent of what the park had to offer.
For a family outing, we'd recommend this park as one of the best around. If you or a family member gets cold, there are excellent warming facilities. It's nearly impossible for even the most klutzy trail rider to get lost. Not only are the trails exceptionally well marked, but you'll find frequent "You Are Here" type trail maps set up at most of the interconnecting trail locations.
We especially liked the large parking lot and the way the park rangers established a right and a wrong way for snowmobile traffic to flow. It was obvious that park officials know exactly what they are doing and how to maximize your enjoyment of their park.
Just like any snowmobiler, we stopped at the park entrance, got our state permit for the day's trip, received instructions on where to park and when the facility would close, etc. There was no special treatment for us, because from what we gathered, everyone gets treated like a VIP at St. Croix State Park.
There are speed limits and the normal restrictions on boozehounds, etc., but that all serves to further make this park a great family snowmobiling site.
To reach the park, most urban snowmobilers would get off the north-south Interstate at "Tobie World," which seems to have become Hinckley's answer to DisneyWorld. The park itself is situated 16 miles east of Hinckley on State Highway 48. Park headquarters is five miles south of the park entrance on County Road 22.
St. Croix, the largest state park in Minnesota, contains more than 33,000 acres of forests, meadows, marshes, and streams. About an hour and a half north east of St. Paul and Minneapolis, this park is separated from Wisconsin by the St. Croix River, which has been designated a National Wild and Scenic Riverway. The park's western boundary is formed by seven miles of the Kettle River, a Minnesota Wild and Scenic Riverway.
Snowmobilers can enjoy the rich geological history of this park on its 70-plus miles of maintained trails. The flat slopes and granular soils of the park indicate glacial deposits. Set down following the retreat of the last glacier 10,000 years ago, the soils of St. Croix lay on ancient lava rock. The geological history of the St. Croix valley, like most of Minnesota, is among the most complex in the world.
The springs along the banks of the St. Croix mark places where the river valley has eroded through the glacial gravel to release water trapped between the gravel and old lake sediments.
The higher land forms are terminal moraines - accumulations of boulders, stones, and other debris carried by a glacier - and are of red, sandy till. Thirty one types of soil have been found in the park.
Lowlands, marshes and other depressions in the park are due to slump brought about by the melting of buried chunks of glacial ice. A well dug straight down into the soil would come upon either lake sediment or red, sandy till for a depth of 75 to 125 feet before striking lava bedrock.
Meltwater from Glacial Lake Duluth created both the Bois Brule and St. Croix Rivers.
Such ancient history is interesting if you're into dinosaurs and cavemen, but the more modern importance of this area was for its conveyance in the fur era. The Bois Brule and the St. Croix Rivers served as major highways for the fur trade between the Mississippi River country, the Great Lakes, and what was then New France and beyond.
Native Americans - first the Dakota, then the Chippewa and Fox - used the St. Croix to transport goods. Both Indians and French trappers discovered the St. Croix country difficult for fur trapping. Compared to other areas, such as the Border Lakes country farther north, the St. Croix was sparse. But the rivers were vital links to the fur trade.
A French fur post was established about 1800 in the vicinity of the park. The great white pine forest shaded a number of Indian villages along the river. In the late 19th century, the need for timber virtually eliminated the white pine. St. John, a colorful logging camp operator, had his base camp near the present site of the group camp named for him.
The old Fleming Railroad, used for hauling cars of saw logs, generally followed the route of the park entrance road.
When logging ended, settlers moved in, but poor agricultural soil led to failed attempts to farm the land.
During the 1930s, the National Park Service established the St. Croix Recreation Demonstration Area. In 1943, a joint act of the U.S. Congress and the Minnesota State Legislature brought St. Croix State park into being as a major part of the Minnesota Park and Recreation System. St. Croix State Park boasts: 217 semi-modern campsites; a primitive group camp for up to 200 campers with water and toilet; three modern group camps with a total capacity for 395 campers; 42 campsites with electrical hookups; a trailer dump station; two enclosed picnic shelters; 127 miles of foot trails; 21 miles of ski trails; and 75 miles of snowmobile trails.
The St. Croix and Chengwatana State forests, next to St. Croix State Park, offer additional trails which connect with the Willard Munger snowmobile trail which runs northward to Duluth, Minnesota, on Lake Superior.
As far as we are concerned, governor's ride or not, Hinckly and the St. Croix State Park are excellent destinations for snowmobilers. We would recommend that you definitely call ahead about snow conditions. We found the park officials to be very fair and honest in their trail assessments. So, call ahead.
If you want to stay in the area, there are plenty of very nice facilities that range from the very reasonably priced Bed & Breakfast Lodge near the park's entrance to the likes of Cassidy's Best Western Gold Pine Inn back off the interstate. And, of course, there is Tobies, a traditional pastry stop for north and south bound travelers. Tobie's has seemingly taken over the east side of the interstate junction in Hinckley, adding on a motel, expanded restaurant and a summertime kiddie park. Tobie's huge parking lot can be used for off-loading sleds - but we would suggest checking with management first. That way you can score a cup of coffee and a cream-filled doughnut.
For more information - contact:
Park Manager, St. Croix State Park
Route 3 Box 174
Hinckley, MN 55037
612-384-6591
Department of Natural Resources
Region 3 Headquarters
Box 648
Brainerd, MN 56401
218-828-2622
Department of Natural Resources
Division of Parks and Recreation
Centennial Office Building
St. Paul, MN 55155
612-296-4776
Hinckley Area Chamber of Commerce
612-784-7837