Bemidji to Little Falls

John next to Paul Bunyan

We started our day in Bemidji, Minnesota viewing the town landmark, Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox. Built in 1937, it looks pretty corny today. We started following the Mississippi as it drains from one lake and enters another: Lake Bemidji to Cass Lake to Lake Winnibigoshish. We passed by the Winnibigoshish dam originally built in 1884 as a wooden dam. One of six dams built to control the flow of the Mississippi for loggers and to maintain a shipping channel on the river downriver from Minneapolis. We kept getting peeks of the Mississippi as we took the Great River road. The day started cold and dark, but by noon hour, the sun came out. 

Mississippi 30 miles from the headwaters

Near the headwaters, the land is largely hilly moraines with a large variety of trees, giving us a lot of color. As we headed south from Grand Rapids, we entered a sandy plain, which meant primarily birch and aspen for trees, and a lot of hay fields. The land changed again as we approached Brainerd, back to glacial moraine. From Brainerd we headed to Little Falls for the night. We had hoped to stop at the MinnesotaMilitary Museum, but it was already 4 PM by this time and the museum was closing for the summer season at 5 PM. The Great River Road definitely snakes around with the river, it took us seven hours to cover the same distance as we did in two hours yesterday. 

Minnesota Hay 

Lake Itasca

St. Croix River

If you'd rather have a narrated video of this trip, it is available on youtube.

This trip definitely had an interesting beginning. This was supposed to be a camping vacation. But our Dodge Durango went in for regular service last Monday, and it’s still there – they found a bent rear axle and a replacement wasn't available in time for us to make Eric’s wedding. So we’re traveling in the Prius and hoteling it! We spent a glorious Fall weekend with Laura and Greg in Minneapolis. Today we left in cool wet weather to Northern Minnesota. We arrived in Lake Itasca State Park at noon to a sunny 60 degree day. 

Lake Itasca, the Headwaters

The name Itasca comes from VertITAS CAput or “True Head” of the Mississippi river. In the 1800’s many explorers searched for the headwaters of the Mississippi, Henry Schoolcraft named Lake Itasca as the source (previously Cass Lake which is downstream was considered the source). This has one of the few Old Growth forests left in Minnesota, largely because it was protected as a park in the early 1900s. There are numerous red and white pines that are over 200 years old. The leaves were in full color, the sky was blue and air was warm, what more could we ask for?

Fall Colors