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| Dennis Frandsen County Park on West Rush Lake |
What a gorgeous day! I was so excited to get outside for my hike today. I got off of work around 3:00 so with my extra time I decided to drive to a new location, finally! It did not disappoint!
Dennis Frandsen County Park is on the North shore of Rush Lake, about a 13 minute drive West of downtown Rush City. The park has 117 acres and features a fishing pier, a gazebo, a frisbee golf course, canoe access, picnic tables and grills, a playground, bathrooms, and two walking trails. A fun fact for you is that I am on the Chisago County Park Board, representing District 5. The district covers the Rush City and Harris areas which includes this park and Fish Lake Park. I thought it was about time I checked out the hiking trails that the parks have to offer! First up, DFCP, and on deck is Fish Lake!
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| Trail on North Shore of West Rush Lake |
I already had a high opinion of this park, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that there was not one, but two excellent walking trails. The first trail goes North of the common area of the park and wraps around the very top of West Rush Lake. To find the trail head, look on the North side of the bathrooms where you will see a sign that reads "hiking trail" with an arrow. It is pretty self explanatory ;). This trail is about 1.5 miles long. After a short trek you come upon another common area with tables and grills. You can park here as well but there is no signage on the road directing you to it. Past the common area is a loop. Stick to the right and you have beautiful lake views and a nice gravel path (with no logs to climb over I might add). When you loop back you are surrounded by young maple and birch trees and hear the crunching sound of thousands of leaves at your feet. Don't you just love the smell of dead leaves?
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| Island Trail |
The second trail is on the island portion of the park. If you walk farther than the parking lot on the road you will find yourself on a dirt road that just circles around and comes back. There are two trail heads off of the dirt road loop. It is one connected trail. I started on the left and came out on the right. The trail here is a nice and grassy, with very open lake views. This was my favorite part of the whole park. The grass is more forgiving on your feet and the lake view was just incredible. This loop is much smaller than the other trail, but is definitely worth your time. To get to my total of 3.3 miles I walked the 1.5 mile Northern trail and then did this loop a couple times.
I can't believe that 8 days have already gone by on this journey. The time is just flying! Like I said before I plan to go to Fish Lake tomorrow and on Thursday I will be walking the Sunrise Prairie Trail in North Branch. I'm excited to get out and explore more places! Stay tuned :)
With lots and lots of gratitude,
Jamie Lynn
:)
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