Walking the Mississippi River Gorge Trails

View from the Ford Parkway Bridge

By far, my favorite walk in the Twin Cities is the Winchell Trail along the west bank of the Mississippi River Gorge between Minnehaha Park and the Franklin Bridge.  It's about a 2.5 mile packed dirt track that gets you off the paved bike and pedestrian path that follows West River Parkway on the Minneapolis side.  I don't really enjoy sharing the paved path with bikers who are whizzing by and who may or may not shout out the customary "on your left" warning.  I try to stay on my side but if I'm looking at a flower or a bird, I may not see or hear you you coming. Pedestrian rage. To get to the Winchell I take the light rail out of downtown Minneapolis to the Minnehaha Park stop and look for the path that starts right after the road that goes down to the lock and dam.  In a perfect world like yesterday, I get an early start and make it to the all the way to the Lake Street Bridge and the Longfellow Grill before their morning happy hour is over.  I can get a $2.50 Freehouse brown ale (Minneapolis North Loop brewery) and have a bite to eat before getting back on the trail.  Yesterday I tried the oatmeal pancakes and I would walk twice that far for those cakes. 

   

As many times as I have looked under the Lake Street Bridge this was the first time that I tried to do a little clean up.  There was new graffiti and a lot of empty spray cans.  While I understand the desire for people to make their artistic statement, I do not see why leaving the cans behind is part of that mentality.

So back to the Ford Parkway Bridge and a different day.  Does the same kind of trail exist on the east side of the river? First I had to take a peek under the Ford Parkway Bridge.  That's a one time only deal.  Too steep for me to drag myself down and back up more than once.

Looking way up at the underside of the bridge, you wonder who had the nerve to get up there and how?

It is a teenage wasteland down there and LOTS of trash.  I could clean it up but there would be no way for me to haul it back up the hill.

Better for some group like Wilderness Inquiry to canoe into this area and then haul it out.

So yes, there is a similar dirt track that goes along the cliffs on the east side of the river. I could not find this trail referenced on any map, but here it is. There are places on the trail that really come too close to the edge of the cliffs so maybe that is why the park service doesn't mention the trail.  You can bet that any kid from the neighborhood knows which trails go down to the river or have a good view. Even though I can hear the street noise and lawn mowers, better to be down on the dirt track and watch for birds. 

Looking across to the Minneapolis side you can see some interesting views.  I wonder if this is one of the old outfalls from years ago when raw sewage went directly into the river....now converted to storm water only.  

We exited the trail at the University of St. Thomas for lunch, but we'll continue our urban wilderness walk here on another day.  I wonder what else is under that bridge?

8 Mile Hike

First, let me say that I played hooky and ditched my volunteer job today.  I never do that (almost).  I am conscientious to a fault, but today I needed to be outside after a crappy night's sleep due to a neighbor's dog. No, this is not the neighbor's dog.  We were walking the Winchell Trail along the Mississippi River Gorge when my husband said "quit looking up and watch where you're going".  I do have a tendency to trip, so I looked down and this was what was staring back at me.  I thought briefly about taking that body less creature with me to give to the park service. What is it?  Wolverine, badger?  I want it to be a wolverine because I just like the idea and the sound of WOLVERINE!  Maybe I'll send this photo to the park ranger over at Fort Snelling.

The trail was not all scary skeletons today.  No, butterflies were waiting for me too.  Is this a Swallowtail or something else?

  Up above the wooded trail the tended gardens along River Road Parkway looked pretty spectacular too.

Down along the river there was plenty of trash to be picked up.  Lucky for me I found an empty bag and at least got some of it.  There is plenty more to be picked up.  And of course there are always storm drain outfalls to take a peak in.

                                   There was some new graffiti on the Lake Street Bridge.

We probably should have just headed home (by bus or light rail or car2go) after mile 6 but decided to keep going past the Franklin Bridge and down to the area near the University of Minnesota landslide that occurred about 2 years ago.

          http://www.startribune.com/mudslide-shuts-down-part-of-west-river-parkway/263922941/

So technically, one is not supposed to be here, if in fact you are capable of reading the NO TRESSPASSING sign.  But, the shortcut was too tempting.  I didn't get 10 feet into the no go zone before two young cops on bikes zoomed in.  "I confess" I said.  They let us go because, well, I'm  sure they didn't want to arrest people that look like your mom and dad.  Thanks for not embarrassing us you guys. So up the hill we had to climb and walk around the back end of the campus and well that's how we ended up with 8 miles on our walk.

Side trip inside the storm drain

Oh no he didn't!

Before I get to the storm drain, I'll start at the beginning.  We took the light rail from the government station downtown Minneapolis to the 46th Street stop and walked to the sign that says "You are Here" in Minnehaha Park.  It was too early for lunch otherwise I would have stopped at Sea Salt in the Park and had some peel and eat shrimp and a beer.

                                    The West River Parkway has great bike and pedestrian paths.

                 But if you want to be closer to nature you should take the more rugged 2.5 mile Winchell Trail.

You'll get some great views of the Mississippi River Gorge.  What's that little cave over there?

 I didn't pick up any trash today even though I saw a few things along the trail.  This was my day off and I didn't bring a bag.  I saw a few styrofoam cups floating down river (probably from downtown) and the usual small items like candy wrappers and Swisher cigar wrappers.

                     I don't know if this beach has a name. That's the Lake Street Bridge in the distance.

                               
                                 And finally we arrive at that storm drain.

                                    

 
 

Ok, that's far enough buddy!

Get me out of here!

                            

If you continue walking along the river you come to the University of St. Thomas Rowing facility.  We took the path that leads up to the top of the Lake Street Bridge. The graffiti on the bridge does nothing to add to the beauty of the river so it really doesn't belong there.  Tough time getting it off of there though.  Time for a walking break and a little lunch at the Longfellow Grill. Yum.  The veggie sandwich with pickled red onions is fantastic.

Back out on our walk.  The view of the Mississippi from the Short Line Bridge.

Back down to the Winchell Trail and a little more nature before returning to the city.  The trail comes up again at Franklin Avenue.  From there it's a short walk to the west bank of the U of M.  One could continue walking into downtown, but instead we saw this and drove it home.