I don't think I need a title for this one - the photo is sufficient. I took my first trip to Afton State Park on Sunday. The weather was about perfect - low humidity, sunny and temps around 75ish. I didn't really know what to expect from the park. I always think of Afton Alps (the ski hill) so I somehow always assume the state park is like that.

Luckily I was wrong. There's a lot of prairie land, some woods and a lot of riverfront. I started with the short walk around the prairie interpretive trail which was pretty cool. Still lots of flowers and bugs. I like bugs on flowers. Unfortunately, my camera doesn't do as well at close-ups as I would like, so my bugs are a bit blurrier than I'd like.



After that I made a bit of a mistake. I should've continued down the trail towards the southern end of the park, and then walked back along the river. Instead, I headed north towards the picnic area, beach and campground. I ran into a lot of people and I think I missed a really cool part of the park. I may have to go back some time this fall.

I skipped the official beach and instead got off the trail and walked along the river for awhile. There were lots of boats on the water, making plenty of noise and waves. I'm kind of excited because I imagine the scenery will be similar when I go to Voyageurs NP next month, minus all the boat traffic.





When the beach ran out I picked a trail going up into the woods. It broke out into another prairie section after half a mile or so, and from there the trail alternated between prairie and forest. I saw a rabbit, several deer and lots of birds - a couple bald eagles above the river, otherwise lots of brown unexciting birds. The trail was better than some state parks I've been in. There's an irritating trend to make trails 15 feet wide or more. I think it's because they serve a dual purpose - in winter the trails are groomed for cross-country skiing, and I can only guess that activity requires wider trails for some reason. I hate it because it turns a perfectly good trail into a bit of a runway and makes it seem like a very manufactured experience. Anyway, Afton doesn't widen their trails quite as much as some other parks, so it was better than I expected and I'll probably go back this fall or next spring.



More photos can be seen here.