2023 03 26 - Forestville State Park - Preston MN

Picture: Sign at the entrance of the 'Forestville' area of the park.

The road in was tared, but the parking area's were all dirt, or in today's case, mud.

We parked close to the history area knowing it was closed but thought it may be the driest area to walk. The bathrooms are already open or maybe they are all year? The walk to the history area was sod enough that it was not muddy and most of the snow in that area was gone.

BUT ... There were barriers across the bridge so we could not get anywhere near the history area. And the signs made it seem like it was a safety issue, not a park issue. That it had failed some test (?) We did see people in the history area so there must be another road in.

Picture: Historic Forestville. Part of the Minnesota Historical Society.

Not sure how they keep track of people coming and going, we didn't see an entrance gate or building. We did see that if you walked across/through the river that there was about a half mile path that would have gotten us there. We didn't try, from the road it looked like you were able to walk on the rocks when the water was low enough.

Another time.

With that option gone, we decided to walk on one of the closest trails. It was in the woods but near a field so some of the path was clear, but soft and muddy and other parts were soft and snow covered.

Again this stop we walked about a mile.

Picture: It shows how any leaf or twig would attract enough sun and heat to sink into the otherwise hard pack of snow.

No wildlife here today. Maybe some birds flying but we didn't even see any squirrels.