Mississippi Headwaters

Even the mighty Mississippi has humble beginnings deep in the hardwood forests of Itasca State Park in northwest Minnesota.
Even the mighty Mississippi has humble beginnings deep in the hardwood forests of Itasca State Park in northwest Minnesota.
Explore the hardwood forests and lakeside vistas of Itasca State Park along the Wilderness Drive and Bike Route.
Ride down Wilderness Drive for breathtaking views of Itasca State Park and the Mississippi headwaters from the Aiton Heights Fire Tower Trail.
Grab your paddle and explore Minnesota's lakes and rivers by kayak, canoe, raft, and SUP from Boundary Waters to Mississippi National River.
Como Park Zoo & Conservatory hosts a breathtaking collection of plants and animals from around the world. In visiting, we were immediately drawn to the Ape enclosure where one of the largest Gorillas in captivity reclined with an understated authority. That being said, it seems like the Como Park Zoo & Conservatory is a place to be seen, not described. So, here we go:
There didn't seem to be much of a gap between summer and winter. The warm summer heat seemed to linger throughout most of fall. And then, duty called and I had to make an abrupt trip up to Minnesota.
We rolled into Duluth for dinner. After a day of rushing to make a bunch of stops before leaving Minnesota, we were ready to relax and enjoy a meal in this historic city along Lake Superior.
There are monarch butterflies in Minnesota. To locals, this is no surprise. But to me, I was impressed. Monarchs can travel up to 3000 miles to their winter grounds in Mexico. These are the only butterflies to travel such great distances. And yet, in the summer, many return to Minnesota, where they were born.
Minnesota comes from the Dakota word for "clear blue water." It's an appropriate name for the Land of 10,000 lakes. The Dakota, along with the Ojibwe, eventually found themselves contending for these lakes with the state's early European settlers: emigrants from Scandinavia and Germany. The communities that sprouted from these northern European roots became fodder for Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon and other portions of his celebrated radio show: Prairie Home Companion. Despite the Olly and Lena jokes, the state is ranked among the best educated in the United States. Even so, with winters recorded as low as −60 °F, there's a reason we crossed the border in the summer.
Monticello, Minnesota