The hike to the Devil’s Kettle falls didn’t kill me. Me saying, “This hike will be the death of me” was hyperbolic. I’m not a kid, climbing down thirteen stories of uneven steps littered with sand, rocks and roots to get to the place you cross the river was a tough challenge. Then climbing up seven or eight stories of uneven steps littered with sand, rocks and roots to get up the other side of the gorge to the observation area slightly above the falls level was, well, also a tough challenge.

The Devil’s Kettle is a unique waterfall on the Brule River in Judge C.R. Magney State Park. The river splits right before the falls and about half the water goes over the falls and the other half goes down a hole never to be seen again. Throw a stick into the kettle and it will not be seen again.

Seeing the Devil’s Kettle was worth the hike but to be honest, persevering through the challenge of the hike itself was just as worth the hike. Thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of people have successfully not died making the one mile long trek from the parking lot to the Devil’s Kettle falls. Those stairs are challenging but once we made it back from there, we felt we had accomplished something beyond our norm.

The sound and sight of water in a stream or river, dropping and churning, for me, personifies the majesty of nature’s power and glory. It’s beautiful, exciting and feels dangerous while somehow also being calming and, well, way cool. There is, for me, a sense of inner peace every time I am close to rushing water.

If I’m being honest, I get the same sense of inner peace looking down a river valley watching the river wind its way out of sight or even standing on the edge of a small pond. I love looking across a peaceful lake as well as watching the waves pound the shoreline of a lake on a windy day.

It has been my experience that virtually all Minnesota state parks have water features. We are in fact the land of well over ten thousand lakes and countless miles of shoreline. The source of the mighty Mississippi is easily waded across in Itasca State Park.

Walk east for a half mile from the visitor center in Fort Snelling State Park to stand at the exact point where the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers converge. Be careful, the current there can be quite strong. I have fond memories of taking my granddaughters along this path several times. I caught my youngest granddaughter (about five years old at the time) just before she almost cartwheeled (intentionally) into the river.

In Crow Wing State Park just south of Brainerd, MN, the Mississippi River is not yet the majestic “old man river” it will become downstream, yet the views of the Mississippi River as you hike the path alongside it are breathtaking. Pictures along this stretch are the types of images you see in beer commercials and nature magazines.

There are several state parks with vistas of the Minnesota River valley. The Minnesota River can be fierce in the spring and also after a series of heavy rains but otherwise it seems to meander more gently than fiercely. That said, what I find intriguing as we hiked through the parks in this part of Minnesota is how huge the Minnesota River valley is. How you are driving along relatively flat agricultural land and as you approach the state parks you almost always drive down into a deep and wide valley.

What is cool to me is how many of the state parks in the Minnesota River valley have trails with lookout points from which you gain perspective just how wide and deep and awe inspiring the Minnesota River valley actually is. Note that in order to gain this perspective many of these trails lead up (and down of course) the valley edges which means sometimes the walk up seems to never end.

This spring we leased a new car. As part of the process of taking possession of the car we had the opportunity to get a Minnesota State Park license plate. It costs a bit more than the standard license plate but then you don’t need a park sticker in the window and the license plate looks cool. It looks cool but it also supports the parks and is a good enough excuse to go visit more parks.

We often combine our journeys to state parks with an overnight or two or three in towns around the state, eating in local restaurants and some shopping in local stores. I guess I feel if we want a prosperous Minnesota we need to support the local Minnesota merchants.

On our recent trip staying three nights in Grand Marais and one night in canal park in Duluth we visited several state parks along the Northshore of Lake Superior. Here are some of the parks we visited along the way.

Grand Portage State Park has the highest falls in the State and an easy hike. They also have middle falls which I have not seen as it requires a 4.5 mile hike to get to.
Cascade River State Park has cascades and a couple small but beautiful falls.
Temperance River State park – the river flows through deep ravines in the rocks and it’s cool to see.
George H. Crosby Manitou State Park has three falls although we did not have time to visit them.
Tettegouche State Park is a busy place. The Cascade falls is worth the walk to see.
Gooseberry Falls State Park is the busiest state park I’ve been to. The falls is just a couple hundred feet from the parking lot. It’s cool but lacks that back to nature feel.
Jay Cooke State Park has rapids that are awesome. It’s worth the drive just to see the rapids.

The closer you look the more you see.