All over the U.S. there are places that have dedicated trails for people to use for recreational activities. Some of these trails are paved, many are not, but they all share one common feature; they are designed for people who want to get out of the house and stay active. They are for bicyclists, roller bladers, skate boarders, joggers, and anyone else who wants to take part in them. One of the largest, most popular paved trails is located in Minnesota. It is the very popular Willard Munger State Trail and it is truly something to enjoy for all who want to explore it.
The Willard Munger State Trail
This trail is actually a collection of three trails that stretch between the towns of Duluth and Hinckley. It is the main trail, but it is linked with the Alex Laveau Memorial Trail, in Carlton and the Matthew Lourey State Trail, which is east of the other two trails. All total, between all the trails, you can travel approximately 160 miles and venture through some of the most scenic areas of Minnesota. As a bonus, all of these trails follow old railroad routes, including the route that many people took during an outbreak fire known as the Hinckley and Cloquet fires. This fire happened during September 1894 and burned at least 200,000 acres, including the town of Hinckley. Another train route ran between the Mississippi Railroad and Lake Superior carrying goods and passengers.
Things to Do on the Trails
The activities you can enjoy on these trails is completely up to you. You have the opportunity to walk, bike, and in-line skate during the warm weather months. During the winter time when snow covers the ground, snowmobilers and skiers are also welcome to venture out to the trails. While you are getting your exercise or riding along, you can enjoy an abundant amount of natural beauty along the way. There are rocky cliffs, forests, waterfalls, and even a swinging suspension bridge for you to enjoy if you are in the northern part of the trails. In the south, you can see rural landscapes, rustic towns, lakes, rivers, and the General C.C. Andrews State Forest.
Enjoy the Best of Nature
Although many people travel the trails each year, all year, there are still things for you to see. Wildlife is abundant along the trail. You never know when you will see a woodpecker or fox going into his fox hole. There are numerous different types of trees for you to see including oak, pine, aspen, birch, and firs, as well as many other types. If you are lucky, you may also get to meet others who are on an adventure along the trials when you stop to enjoy the view or have a picnic lunch. Along the trails that saved lives more than 100 years ago, anything is possible. Are you ready to see what you have been missing out on by planning your trip down this outstanding trail in Minnesota? Adventure is waiting and there is plenty of nature for you to enjoy.
When spring and summertime come around, there is no end to the fun you can have in the great outdoors. However, mosquitoes also choose this time of the year to both have a fantastic time and breed. They swarm in hot pursuit of a mate and a person to satisfy their many needs for survival. This is why spraying for mosquitoes on the trail is a very big deal for everyone who has anything to do with “nature”. This is especially true for local parks and other public walking trails.
Battling mosquitoes is a never-ending job. A person can spray harmful chemicals on themselves and still suffer through bite after bite from the little “vampires”. This does not make people want to come out and play. It makes them want to stay inside where bites cannot occur. In parks or other places that are designed for humans to venture into nature, this poses a major problem unless pest prevention is part of the routine of running it.
One of the main reasons people stay indoors rather than out in nature is the fact that they want to avoid getting nasty bites from insects that can spread diseases. Fear keeps them inside, where bugs are “prevented”. If more parks and trails and other areas would put more effort into prevention, more people would come out of hiding. This could lead to a world where everyone is more active and healthy, which makes it a win-win situation for everyone. It is also a lot more fun than hiding in a home as well. As a long term goal, it may also help us to gain better control over the mosquitoes that are currently running the world. What could possibly be the downside of that?
Nature is beautiful. No one can deny it. There is something special about not only the wild animals and birds you may see while out hiking, but there is another part of nature that is undeniably beautiful to some. It may come in the form of landscape view or a tree that is bent in such a way that you may find it fascinating. You may also find a leaf that others have walked right on past, but you were lucky enough to spot it and discover that it was shaped like a heart or something equally as beautiful. Did you know that you can take those smaller treasures home? Casting treasures found on the trail is something that many people do, especially if they created special memories on that day in the woods.
For some people, it may be enough to capture pictures of their outing, but what if you could do something more to remember the most special moments? It could be a day filled with adventures that you want to remember. A scavenger hunt with your kids, the first kiss with your partner, a camping trip with good friends, and more. If nature played an important part of it, why not take a little something more with you when you leave? We aren’t suggesting you take a tree or a mountain, but something smaller. A pine cone, leaves, acorns, and even bugs can become something that creates a one-of-a-kind keepsake that you can cherish always.
In the past, we may take home a leaf and crush it between some pages in a book so that we could have a small treasure. You can take it one step further. Imagine a coaster that holds leaves you found on the trail. You may wonder how to protect it and what you can do to prevent it from becoming damaged. Epoxy is a great way to cast things so that they stay with you forever while remaining out in the open where you can see them often. If you send your kids out with a list of things to find, a purple flower, an acorn, a red leaf, or anything else you can imagine; you can then take those items home and turn them into beautiful works of art. Simply glue them to a board or a canvas and cast them with epoxy. It will be a treasure you can see daily, and it will also create a great memory for your children. If you find a bug that fascinates your kids, they can turn it into something special as well. It is easy to do. You simply need to look to see which is best for your projects since there is some debate between 
If you are a nature lover who takes to the trails often, you know already that you need to maximize useful tools while avoiding excess weight. You need survival tools, personal items, and more before you set off on an adventure, but the more you carry; the harder it will be to walk. This can be a little tricky for people who are just beginning to realize the joys of hiking on the trails. Those who go hiking often though, can tell you all about the many options you have for multi purpose gear to carry on the trail.
Anytime you set off on an adventure in the woods, along mountain trails, or anything else; being prepared is important. Anything can happen in these remote areas. You could fall and twist an ankle, end up in a sudden severe storm, and get overheated. There is a chance you could get turned around and have to put effort into finding your way back to the main trail that will allow you to go home. With all of this, you will want to make sure that you have tools to help you create braces for swollen ankles, medications that you take at scheduled times, compasses, and more. The question then becomes, how much is too much. Do you need to carry along a small knife, a large one, a saw, a compass, ropes, a hammer, and all other types of “tools” or do you opt to consolidate with a good knife with a saw blade and other multipurpose tools?
There are a lot of multi-purpose gear and tools available for those who want to set off on all types of adventures without having to carry a lot of excess weight. A lot of these same tools allow you have easy enough access to your favorite tools that you may end up using them in your everyday life. One example of a piece of gear that can lighten your load is your cooking pot, which can double as a bowl and a cup. If you have a smart phone, it can be used as your music player, camera, GPS, journal, and more since there are so many useful apps out there. You can carry trekking poles to help you with stability and they may also be used as stakes for you to erect a tarp for sudden storms. A bandanna can be used as a rag, a water filter, neck cover, and face mask so that you do not have to carry all those items with you. The important thing is that everything you take along have many uses instead of only one.
Celebrating the holidays means that there are a lot of fun things to do, beyond sit at home and open gifts. In fact, a lot of villages and walking trails are set up to keep the holiday spirit going. In these areas, you can often see them decorated for all major holidays. Are you ready to get into the holiday spirit on the trail?
Whether it is nearing Christmas time or Halloween, most areas have a designated place for people to go to see more lights than they could ever imagine or be scared beyond belief. These areas are decorated in such a way that they take on a new appeal for all who visit them, even if you have been there a hundred times; they can still look different. It may be a street where every household sets about making it festive or several shops that aim to scare the pants off those who pass by. At Halloween, there may also be a trail of treaters for the kids to safely get candy from shop owners after business hours. There are also nature trails that become Spooktacular or twinkly. Other holidays that may be able to turn boring into beautiful include Easter, in which many areas hide eggs for you to find, and the “4th of July” when everything gets painted red, white, and blue.
For truly spooky fun, you may want to consider visiting New Orleans where you will find a lot of haunted hotels and more. There is even a parade dedicated to the holiday in this area that has been dubbed, “One of the Spookiest Cities in America”. Salem, Massachusetts is also a great place to visit if you love scary things since it is where the Salem witch trials took place back in 1692. In Salem, you can visit the Salem Witch Museum or take part in the Halloween festival. In Orlando, you can visit virtually all theme parks and get a thrill that goes beyond the rides. In Chattanooga, you can visit the Ruby Falls Haunted Cavern, and there are still more places to see in other parts of the United States around Halloween. And, most of these same places are big on other holidays as well, so you simply have to decide where you want to go and when you plan to be there.