Explore St. Paul's Beautiful Hidden Gem

Explore St. Paul’s Quieter Side

When you’re entering the tenth week of quarantine, you start to discover all sorts of new hikes and neighborhoods in your community. We had a handful of trips cancelled this spring, but the upside of that is how much we’ve seen right here within the Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs. Read on to learn about a lesser known hike in the Twin Cities and explore St. Paul’s Crosby Farm Regional Park.

Nestled Along the Mississippi River

Today we explored Crosby Farm Regional Park, nestled up against the Mississippi River in St. Paul. It’s a beautiful spot and right off Highway 35E, so very easy to get to. The parking lot was pretty full when we arrived, but there were a few spots open and parking is free, which is always nice.

Get Lost in the Meandering Trails

Named after Thomas Crosby who owned a 160-acre farm on this land in the 1800s, Crosby Farm is a major destination for birders, runners, and bikers. It’s the largest natural park in St. Paul’s park system. It plays a vital part in a group of parks that protect the biodiversity of the Mississippi River that run through the Twin Cities. The park has 6.7 miles of paved trails and it’s connected to Fort Snelling State Park. There re also unpaved paths, mostly made of dirt and sand and those run adjacent to the river. I didn’t see any strollers and I think that would be difficult in some parts where there was a lot of sand.

One thing to note, the paths are poorly marked and they split in several spots and wind around. There are no trail markers indicating how far you’ve gone or where you will end up when you come to a fork in the road. We ended up walking along one path and mostly following where we saw other people going. You can’t really get lost though, because you can easily turn around and head back.

The Mighty Mississippi River

The Mississippi River looked gorgeous and was really calm today. A few people and dogs were playing in the river and the water looked clean and clear. It was also sunny and humid, so we were very glad about how much shade there was from all the trees.

I highly recommend this sweet, hidden little gem! It’s a great way to explore St. Paul and get into nature. Looking for more inspiration around the Twin Cities? Check out my blog posts on 27 fun things to do in St. Paul, 18 awesome things to do in Minneapolis, and 80+ dog-friendly things to do in Minnesota.