I recently celebrated my bachelor party in Minnesota’s Arrowhead region. As a part of the trip, we paddled 5.5 miles down the Little Fork River. The Little Fork River is a north woods river through-and-through. It’s remote and beautiful. We did not see or hear another soul during our time on or near the river. Even traffic on the bridges over the river was very sparse. There were only a few homes and farms along this route. The river’s flow rate was only scrapable during our trip, but we forced the issue since it was my bachelor party. It was a bit of a risk: “Scrapable” for the Little Fork is 100 cfs or less, and we’d be trying it at 50 cfs. Would there be many portages? Would everyone be miserable? I wanted my friends to experience my favorite outdoor activity, but the risk of a day full carrying canoes and kayaks over water only a couple inches deep would ruin it. We decided to give it a whirl. Normally I head up and plan my kayaking trips. On this trip I abdicated that responsibility to my soon-to-be father-in-law. He did a great job finding us a scenic part…Continue reading A bachelor party in the North Country (and the Little Fork River)

Along with my soon-to-be father-in-law and fiancé, I took a short, half-day trip on Minnesota ’s Crow Wing River. We were on a camping trip in Park Rapids, Minnesota and needed an easy trip to keep us occupied. I researched this map and we settled on a 5.5 mile trip. We put in at the Anderson’s Crossing, just below mile marker 71 and landed at the bridge in Nimrod. To launch out of Anderson’s Crossing, drive north out of Nimrod on County Road 14. About three miles north of the town, you’ll see a sign for Anderson’s Crossing. Turn right and you’ll follow a bumpy, curving dirt road 1.5 miles until you reach the country campground on the river. The campground was big enough to support at least five different groups of campers with no problem. It does have outhouses. The county maintains the campground and even provides campers with complimentary firewood. The Crow Wing is one of Minnesota’s so called Minnesota State Water Trails. Whether county, state, or federal, these trails are made with thru-paddlers in mind. Because of this, the rivers have abundant public campgrounds. On the Crow Wing, there’s some sort of public campground at least every seven…Continue reading A short trip on the Crow Wing River