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| Meadow start near a burr oak |
In late fall last year, a couple of friends and I decided to check out the Lost Creek Trail (found here on the blog in Part 1) on the outskirts of Chatfield MN. Developed in 2011, this 6+ mile trails goes through a number of cooperating landowners' properties featuring forests, wetlands, bluffs, prairies and fields. This trail was featured in a MN Conservation Volunteer magazine and our interest was piqued.
We only had time to do an out-and-back hike that took us halfway along the trail that day but we promised ourselves to do a through-hike as soon as we could. But the deer season (the trail closes in November) intervened. No worries though. Spring called to us and we recently completed our through-hike on the trail bursting with green growth and leafed out trees.
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| Woods trail |
The trail officially has two trailheads: Ninebark (in Jordan Township off MN Hwy 101) and Groen Park in Chatfield. We chose Ninebark Trailhead to begin. To keep the hike reasonable for us (around 6 miles), we decided to end our hike at an access point opposite Mind Drive, about a mile west of the Groen Park trailhead.
The trail is well marked with more permanent signs as well as trees marked with blue arrows pointing you to Ninebark and white arrows pointing to Chatfield. There are many other trails belonging to landowners that you come across. They are marked with "not trails" signage to help you stay on the Lost Creek trail and avoid accidentally trespassing.
The trails are a combination of old roads, dirt footpaths, grass, and even cow pasture. This far into spring, the grasses were high so long pants (or plenty of Deet) and water-proof boots in the wet grasses were good calls on our early morning hike.
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| Wooden steps down to a rock stream crossing |
There are a number of stream crossings along Lost Creek and other small spring-fed streams. A few have wooden bridges; others have strategically placed rocks to step across. There were also spots that had rock or wood stairs by steep crossings. The engineering was greatly appreciated on all the crossings.
Each segment of each of the properties is quite unique. I appreciate the trail map which includes color-coded lines for each owner's sections well as showing the elevation of each segment in that color. You always know where you are. There are two short road sections connecting trail segments that also are clear on the map.
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| Mayapple blooms |
The spring flowers were starting to cede to summer growth but we saw huge fields of blooming May apples, anemones (true and false), wild geranium, a profusion of ferns, blooming Virginia waterleaf and Jack-in-the-Pulpit among other beauties. The leafed-out trees obscured alot of the dramatic limestone cliffs in the middle of the trail on the Bailey Brothers Pasture Path but you could still see enough to appreciate the grandeur.
According to our Alltrails app, we hiked just under 6.5 miles and gained almost 600 feet. This is a good challenging trail with interesting features (a sinkhole, signs in the Bailey Brothers Valley Path indicating forestry practices; abundant plant and bird life; wide variety of scenery). The elevation gains are sometimes quite dramatic so hiking sticks were especially appreciated.
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| A sinkhole beside the trail |
The Bluff Country Hiking Club (they maintain and support the trail) will be sponsoring a special event on Saturday June 8 and it might be just the incentive you need to get more information and enjoy a guided hike on one segment to whet your whistle.
Lost Creek Fungi Hunt Kick-off Reception and Hike
- Saturday June 8 10:00 am - |
| Fiber Art Fungi! |
THE HIKE
A long, moderate-to challenging hike with rolling hills, stream and creek crossings and a variety of landscapes to hike through. The trail is the result of nearby landowners collaborating to open their land to make a trail that connects from Chatfield MN to Jordan Township, 6.5 miles away. There are two short segments on roads and a mile hike to/from Chatfield on the shoulder of Cty Hwy 2. Hikes can begin at either trailhead for an out-and-back or thru-hike.
The eastern trailhead is at Chatfield's Groen Park. The first mile is on the shoulder of Cty Highway 2 until you come to Mind Dr. Carefully cross the highway to the the small footbridge a bit east of your crossing. The western Ninebark trailhead is out of Chatfield on W. 3rd St SW (past Groen Park) and out Cty Hwy 2 to Ninebark Rd (Hwy 101). Turn left and follow it to the trailhead on the left. You can also park along the side of that road.
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| Lost Creek |
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| Wolf trees at end of hike - 100-200 year olds that tower over other trees and are a haven for wildlife |
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