regional and state parks across Minnesota that are known for their walking, hiking and biking paths.
On a particularly hot July day, I decided to take my bike out to Crow Wing State Park for a solo ride. With 6.5 miles of paved biking trails, I knew I had found my new favorite biking spot.
It wasn’ t long before I noticed a common wood nymph butterfly following me along the trail. When I stopped for a water break, the little guy perched on my bike’ s handlebars. For the next 10 minutes, he orbited around me while I explored the area.
I’ m the type of explorer who has to stop and examine any signs of unfamiliar life I encounter while biking, hiking or walking. Along the trail at Crow Wing State Park, I came across long stretches of bulbous, bright raspberry bushes. My mind wandered to what it might be like to taste a fresh raspberry picked straight from the bush, but I didn’ t want to risk it.
There were also clusters of bright orange milkweed, white common yarrow, black-eyed Susans and purplish creeping thistles. At first glance, Crow Wing appeared to be just another green Minnesota nature park, but up close it revealed itself as a rainbow of wildflowers, plants and animals.
Of all the trails and state parks I’ ve biked in Minnesota so far, Crow Wing State Park ranks among my favorites. The never-ending, winding path through forests and open fields made for a peaceful and immersive ride through nature.
CAMPING IN SEPTEMBER
In late September of 2025, I decided to embark on an old-fashioned, one-night camping trip with my best friend Ashley and my newly adopted mini-Aussie, Sadie, whom I had brought home from the Animal Humane Society earlier that month.
Going into the trip, I felt a mix of emotions. Excitement, anxiousness and determination topped the list. I had been on plenty of camping trips before, but I had never been the one fully responsible for every aspect of setting up camp. Ashley made it clear that once she settled into her camp chair, she had no intention of moving. She was fully committed to vacation mode.
In the past, my camping experiences were usually group trips led by counselors or outings with family and friends. Fortunately, I had recently worked as a trip leader for a weeklong camping excursion in the Boundary Waters through a nonprofit organization. That experience, combined with my earlier trips, helped prepare me for the essentials of camping, from setting up and taking down
a tent to building and maintaining a fire and cooking camp meals.
By the end of the night, saying I was proud of myself would be an understatement. I felt half superwoman, half park ranger after everything I had managed to do. Since nothing major went wrong, I considered the night a success.
With the trees blurring past my peripheral vision and the wind rushing against my face as I pedaled along the winding paths, it was easy to lose all sense of time and place. There was no Wi-Fi in the area, leaving me free from the distraction of my phone and fully immersed in the beauty of the moment.
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