Off to the Headwaters of the Mississippi

Mississippi flowing from Lake Itasca

Thursday, June 25^th  – Itasca State Park

After the night at Birch Lake Forest Campground we decided to bag the Lake Woebegone trail.  We had seen the trail and much of the local roads (beat to crap) on the way to the campground. We are getting a little tired of the rails-to-trails, cornfields and beat up roads so we decided to head 100 miles north to Itasca State Park and the head waters of the Mississippi River.  We thought that we should be there fairly early to get a campsite since every Minnesotan we talked to suggested going to this park but indicated that it was quite popular and getting a camping spot in the summer could be tough. 

By arriving early we were able to get a campsite next to Lake Itasca but checkout for the current occupants was not until 4 pm.   We parked by the visitors center and rode to the Mississippi headwaters at the effluent of Lake Itasca, then on around the Wilderness Trail for a total of 16 miles.

Mississippi crossing not far from the headwaters

Itasca State park includes not only the beginning of the Mississippi River but a large tract of Minnesota’s remaining old growth red and white pine forest.  Established in 1891, Lake Itasca is Minnesota’s oldest state park. 

Friday, June 26^th- Itasca State Park

Our goal today was to head to the home of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, as well as, the curling capital of the US – Bemidji, MN.  Our out and back ride of 69 miles followed the “Great River Road” (car) and “Mississippi River Trail” (bike) and was our longest ride so far.  Scenery was different with mostly pines and birch trees.  Much of this area is state park, recreation area or nature preserve so traffic was light although the roads had plenty of cracks.  But the day was beautiful and the ride was quite manageable.

Paul Bunyan and Babe

In downtown Bimidji in a park by the lake, we found the Paul Bunyan statue which is 18 feet tall and weighs 2 ½  tons above the footings.  Babe is constructed of wooden ribs covered with canvas.  At one time Babe’s eyes blinked and smoke came out of his nose.  The statues are on the National Register of Historic Places as official cultural resources worthy of preservation.  Why??  We don’t know… very folk art looking and clearly won’t be in the Louvre next to the Venus de Milo.

P.S.  Beth finally scored her first license plate of the trip… Minnesota!