A visit to Duluth, Minnesota, offers a wonderful launching point for hiking all along Minnesota's North Shore. However, visitors should remember Duluth holds its own fabulous hiking trails. In the past, we enjoyed a hike at Congdon Park. During our most recent Duluth vacation, we wandered the trails of Lester Park.
Duluth's Lester Park features over 9 miles of trails between the Lester River and Amity Creek. So, the preserve presents amazing nature adventure after amazing nature adventure. We quickly became enamored with the preserve's rocky, white pine, lichen and moss speckled landscape. Water rambling through the landscape offered views of rapids and waterfalls.
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| A waterfall daintily trickles over the craggy, worn rocks of the gorge in Lester Park in Duluth, Minnesota. |
In fact, we spied a number of rapids and waterfalls while hiking in Lester Park. Beneath a stone arch bridge hikers find graceful Amity Falls. Amity Falls is not too far from one of the park's parking lots so it may be tempting to stop your exploration there. Hiking along the rugged trails rewards with views of more rapids and waterfalls! Overall, we did not have any issues and embarked on a fantastic hike after orienting ourselves with a map at the trailhead.
We enjoyed such a beautiful Duluth area hike full of Minnesota waterfalls!
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| Rapids and waterfalls tumble through a rocky gorge bordered by soft green evergreens! |
We hiked along a joint mountain bike - hiking trail, so be on the lookout when hiking. Quickly, we became enrobed in the white pines, aspens, and birch of the preserve. If you have been reading for awhile, you may know that evergreens are a particular favorite for me -- so I was in heaven!
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| A waterfall emerges from the jumbled rocky landscape of Lester Park. |
We explored a number of overlook points. Seven bridges crisscross throughout the preserve. We ambled across a couple pausing to soak in the views. Lester Park's rocky trails treated us to gorgeous views and a morning escape in nature. The combination of rugged, worn rocky surfaces, water sometimes trickling and sometimes bubbling over, and blue-green hues of the pines crafted such a magical pace to explore.
While the preserve certainly dazzles with rapids and cascades, the flora and fauna also delight. Noted as a birding hotspot, we did spot a number of birds including a juvenile yellow bellied sapsucker! Our hike was full of the songs of chickadees and cardinals as well as woodpecker calls. Truly, a wonderful spot for looking for birds!
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| A juvenile yellow bellied sapsucker climbs up a pine tree. |
A hike at Lester Park welcomed us to a new day exploring the Duluth area. We admired the incredible landscape, reveled in looking for rapids and waterfalls, and appreciated a peaceful journey. Lester Park will definitely be high on our list on a return visit to Duluth!
Lester Park offers an amazing array of amenities so visitors will enjoy picnics, barbecuing, birding, biking, mountain biking, cross country skiing, hiking and more. There is a playground available as well as a pavilion. A segment of Skyline Parkway dubbed Seven Bridges Road traverses the preserve and offers a way to explore the bridges.
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