Hike — Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park, MN | Minnesota Rovers Outdoors Club

Hike — Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park, MN

Category: Hiking

Sat, 9:00amMay 32025

Description:

Let’s hike at Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park and hopefully sight some spring wildflowers, including the rare Dwarf Trout Lily, on Saturday, May 3.

In the spring, the forest floor is a spectacular wildflower garden where many plants like hepatica, bloodroot, Dutchman’s breeches, and the rare dwarf trout lily bloom.

9:00 a.m. — Meet at REI Bloomington for carpooling (optional)*.

If you’d like to carpool, I think we can meet at REI in Bloomington and leave cars in their lot. The drive from REI to Nerstrand looks like 50-60 min.

10:00 a.m. — Arrive at Nerstrand to do some hiking.

I think we’ll hike clockwise on the Hiking Club Trail, which is around 2 miles and the Fawn Trail, which is around 1.5. miles, so we’re looking maybe 4 miles. Shorter or longer options are possible.

Optional post-hike socializing/lunch at Tanzenwald Brewing Company in Northfield.

Bring a snack and water.

*I plan to start a Google Doc to coordinate carpooling, so if you plan to carpool, let me know so I can provide further meetup details (e.g., who wants to drive, how many passengers, staying for post-hike socializing, etc.).

Note that if the main parking lot is full, we may need to park in the group campsite lot. I’ll provide my phone number to participants so you can text me if we encounter any parking difficulty upon arrival.

Send me an email to sign up. If you are not a member of Minnesota Rovers, you can either join our club or complete the online waiver form below.

Coordinator(s):

Ron H - roverronmn@yahoo.com

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Last Revised: October 2024

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