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Today, is Sunday, June 8th. Last week I had planned on running the trails at Perrot State Park today. Unfortunately due to the closure of the Highway 43 bridge (an inconvenience for me, a huge headache for thousand of folks, I hope can be resolved soon) over the Mississippi River I could not go without driving 60 miles out of my way, so I chose to run part of the Snake Creek trail.
About a year ago while at a trail race I met Kate Havelin who was selling copies of her book “Minnesota Running Trails” after the race. I bought a copy, which she personally signed for me. The book contains information and maps of public trails all over the state of Minnesota.
I had not actually run any of the routes she outlines in her book but found one outlined at Snake Creek which is about 25 miles from Winona. Although there are about 18.5 miles of trail in total there, the route she outlined for this run was only about 3 miles. I was looking for a short route today having just finished a ten mile trail race at Chester Woods on Saturday. So I decided to give it a try.
It had been raining most of the weekend and a light rain was coming down this afternoon so I picked out my oldest, most well worn pair of trail shoes and headed out.
To get there, I drove north on Highway 61 from Winona. Take 608th street left off of 61 when you see the brown signs indicating Snake Creek trail access. Once you follow 608th a short distance it forks with a road going straight and the main road curving to the right. I stayed on the fork that goes straight to go to what a sign indicated was the “overflow” parking lot. Once on that road follow it straight back about 1/2 mile till it deadends at a parking lot.
I ran the southeastern loop of the trail which is shown on the map which can be accessed at the link listed here http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/ohv/snakecreek.pdf This is the loop that Kate describes in her book.
Leaving the parking lot go a short distance past the wooden gate and the trail goes to the right or the left. I started out to the left. The first 1/2 mile or so is a long gradual climb up to the top of what the map says is Rattlesnake Ridge. The trail is open to ATV’s (more on that later) so it is quite easy to follow. Once on top of the ridge the trail loops mostly thru the woods and along the edge of some open meadows. Most of the woods seemed to be mixed hardwoods with some pine mixed in here and there. About halfway thru the loop there is a overlook with a fire ring a small shelter and a bench. From this vantage point you can see Snake Creek Valley to one side and the Mississippi valley (out past Alma) to the other side. From there the trail continues along the ridge until finally dropping down a long downhill with some ups and downs until you finish the loop. You will come across a couple forks in the trail but as long as you stay to the right, you will stay on the 3 mile loop.
Kate does a much better job of describing the route as well as several landmarks along the way in her book. (I guess that is why she is a author and I am not.)
The only wildlife I saw today was a deer that bounded off from the sidehill below me along the ridge.
I was not bothered by any bugs and the fact that ATV’s use the trail kept it free and clear of vegetation four to five feet wide along the entire trail. Most of the trail is dirt with a few rocks and roots in places.
There is no access to water anywhere along the trail that I am aware of. You could probably do without carrying any with you on the 3 mile loop on anything but very hot conditions. However, if you chose to add in some of the rest of the trails for more miles I would recommend you bring water and possibly gu or something similar.
If you are used to running with an Ipod and listening to music on the run I would say on this trail it would probably not be a good idea. As I said earlier the trail is open to ATV’s. I did have a few pass by me on my run. Since visibility is limited by woods in many places it was nice to hear them approaching from a distance and be able to step to the side of the trail as they came near.
I took a few of the side trails I came across and explored them a short distance. When I finished my run my GPS read 4.4 miles. However if you stay to the right at the forks as described above I think the loop would be pretty close to 3 miles as Kate’s book and the DNR map indicates.
After running this route I went home and reread Kate’s chapter in her book describing it. It was then I truly realized what a wonderful job she does in describing the route and landmarks along the way. I am sure each and every trail she describes in the book is done equally as well. If you enjoy running trails and would like to check out some all over the state of Minnesota you should pick up a copy. To purchase a copy, please go to http://www.adventurepublications.net/tek9.asp?pg=products&specific=jqdokoe4 The title again, is Minnesota Running Trails by Kate Havelin. It is published by Adventure Publications, Inc. I have seen it in bookstores in Winona as well as at the Nature Store at Whitewater State Park or order it from the above link.
I am not sure where I am off to next week, but I am sure I will pick a place and write a little story about it.
See you on the run
Dan
I have decided to start running various trails in the Winona area over the summer and fall and write a little review on each. I want to concentrate on trails on public land such as state and city parks, state forests etc. that are less than an hour drive from Winona.
Today (6-1-08), I ran the Bronk Plowline trail located on the ridge between Stockton & Minnesota City. This trail is on public land which is part of the Richard J. Dorer Hardwood State Forest. A map is attached above.
I was not quite sure how to access the trail as I had heard the August 07 flooding of Garvin Brook had washed out the bridge (more on that later) at the main trail head in Stockton Valley. I heard you could access the trail from an old township road near Hidden Valley trailer park, so decided to give that a try. I found the gravel road just a few feet north of the paved entry to the trailer park. A short distance up the road was a grassy flat area in which I parked my vehicle. Someone looking for more of a challenge than just a run, could bike here from Winona and then choose to run.
I begin my run at about 2 P.M. It was a warm sunny day so I would have preferred to go later but had plans for the evening so went when I could.
The first part of the run is a long climb on a old dirt road (you hit an old piece of blacktop a few hundred yards up… from there stay on the dirt road to the left) from valley floor to the top of the bluff. It is a fairly gradual climb, I looked at my GPS when I hit the top of the ridge and it was at just over 1 mile from the start. From there I went right to hook up with the plowline loop. It is called the plowline since it was the edge of the fields (or plowline) when the ridge was farmed many decades ago.
Once on the loop you basically just stay to the right and follow along. I would call the terrain on the ridgetop gently rolling but it was surprising flat in many areas. Most of the trail passed through hardwood forest with a few open meadows and decades old pine (which always seem refreshingly cool on a warm day) plantations. The trail was generally single track with a few wider areas scattered throughout.
I did not see much for wildlife other than a mother ruffed grouse who must have had a nest nearby as see led me down the trail for about 25 yards feigning a broken wing until she finally sailed off over the edge of the ridge. Judging by the signs of deer and turkey , it would be a good bet to see more wildlife closer to dawn or dusk.
The bugs were not bad and I managed to stay free of and poison ivy or nettles by sticking to the worn paths through the vegetation. I also managed to stay free of ticks but there was taller grass in several stretches so I think next time I will apply some tick repellent (even though I hate to use it) from my knees to the tops of my shoes.
I seemed to have the whole place pretty much to myself spotting just a couple of solo hikers and their dogs along the way. Although the trail is open to mountain biking and horseback riding I saw little evidence of either.
Once I finished the loop I ran back down the long mile downhill (that’s always good at the end of a run) back to my vehicle. My GPS from start to finish read 8.03 miles. You could shorten this run by cutting back at some points where the loop intersects.
I definitely would recommend bringing water with you on this run. I had my 20 oz. handheld bottle with me and it was near empty by the time I finished on this warm afternoon.
Out of curiosity, when I was done with my run I decided to check out the main trail head entrance in Stockton Valley. It is off Co. 23 on Township road No. 6. There are some brown signs along 23 marking the entry point. Sure enough, you certainly cannot drive a car over where the bridge had once stood. The amazing thing was the stone arch which was the main foundation of the bridge was still there! The earth on either side had washed away leaving a gap of probably about 30 feet on each side where the road used to be. With a little climbing you can still climb across the old stone arch on foot and not get wet! So it is possible for a runner or a hiker to access the trail from the Stockton Valley side. You could probably even drag a mountain bike along with but I can’t imagine a horse would ever make the crossing.
So, that’s my tale of running the Plowline trail, on this particular day at least!
Next Sunday I think I am going to take a run on the trails over at Perrot State Park near Trempealeau, WI. If anyone would like to join me let me know via e-mail at Winonarunningclub@gmail.com or leave a comment on Jen’s blog.
See you on the run! Dan
