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The trip will take four days and consist of four legs. You can participate
in all four of them, join us for just one to three of them, or simply make
a financial pledge.
Timetable and detailed
directions to launch and pick-up sites
| First Leg: North Mississippi Park to
Watergate Marina (13
miles) |
Click map to view full-size
Interesting links:
North
Mississippi
Boom Island
Upper St. Anthony Falls
Mills Ruins Park
Mill City Museum
Stone Arch
Bridge
St. Anthony Falls
Mississippi
Gorge (St. Paul and Minneapolis Parks)
Lock and
Dam No. 1
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The first leg (Wednesday, July 23rd)
celebrates the beauty and historical significance of the Mississippi
River in Minneapolis. Departure is at 10:00 AM from the boat
launch at North Mississippi Park in Minneapolis (just below the 42nd
Avenue Bridge).
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Historical Break -- Just below the
St. Anthony locks, we'll stop to
tour Mill Ruins Park
and the Mill City Museum. Then we'll stroll across the Stone
Arch Bridge enjoying the magnificent views of St. Anthony Falls.
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Back on the water, we'll cruise past the
University of Minnesota, then enjoy the beautiful and unique
Mississippi Gorge.
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| Below Lock and Dam #1 we'll pass the
mouth of Minnehaha Creek. Then, just past the Highway 5 bridge
is the outlet of Coldwater Spring. Now a part of the
Minneapolis off-leash dog park,
Coldwater Spring is the largest limestone bedrock spring in the Twin
Cities area, discharging over 100,000 gallons of clean water
every day.
According to Dakota tradition, Coldwater Spring is fed from a
sacred hill directly west of the spring named Takuwakantipi - a word
that can be translated as "something sacred dwells there". The water
flowing from this place and out through Coldwater Spring is thus
considered "medicine water" by the Dakota people.
We'll then pass historic Fort Snelling before pulling in for the
night at Watergate Marina. |
| Second Leg: Watergate Marina to a campsite near Lower Grey Cloud Island (20 miles) |
Click map to view full-size
Interesting links:
Historic Fort
Snelling
Fort
Snelling State Park
Crosby Farm
Nature Area
Harriet
Island
Lambert's
Landing
Early Navigation Lights
Pig's Eye Dump
Grey
Cloud Island
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The second leg is almost twice as many miles,
but still an easy day's trip. Any one who wants to
join us for the second leg can either put in about two miles
upstream at the public ramp at Hidden Falls or, for a $10 fee,
can put in at Watergate Marina. Let us know so we can look for
you.
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| The second leg takes us on through the urban wilderness of Fort Snelling State Park and the Crosby Farm Nature Area. We'll
get a flavor of the industrial and shipping importance of the
river as we head past downtown St. Paul. The wastewater
treatment plant at Pig's Eye made an enormous difference in the
water quality of the area below downtown St. Paul. See the
PCA link for information about how bad the pollution was in this
area in the 1920's, 30's, and '40s. |
It takes awhile to get there, but the Grey Cloud Island is
beautiful, with rock cliffs and a wild look. We will camp on
one of the many small islands off Lower Grey Cloud Island. |
There is a boat landing on the opposite (eastern) side of Lower
Grey Cloud Island, which can be used by anyone who wants to be
picked up at the end of the day or to join us for the next leg
Thursday morning. |
| Third Leg: Lower Grey Cloud Island
to Diamond Island (27 miles) |
Click map to view full-size
Interesting Links
Spring
Lake Park
Lock and
Dam No. 2
Changes Caused by the Lock and Dam #2
Historic
Hastings
Vermillion
River Bottoms
St. Croix Riverway
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| The third and longest leg takes us
through Lock and Dam No. 2 and then through the historic river
town of Hastings. At Prescott, about 2.5 miles below
Hastings, is the confluence of the St. Croix and the Mississippi
Rivers. At this point, the Mississippi becomes the
Minnesota/Wisconsin border.
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| For the next 17 miles, the shore on our
right is the Vermillion River Bottoms area. The Mississippi
River and the Vermillion River run parallel to one another and are
separated by a 2.5-mile-wide tract of floodplain forest braided
with cross-channels resembling the bayous of Louisiana. This area
is a spectacular example of floodplain forest as it must once have
been from Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico.
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| Our camping place for the night, Diamond
Island, is three miles above Red Wing, so anyone who takes this
leg should plan to spend the night with us. |
Fourth Leg: Diamond Island to Hok-Si-La Campground at Lake City on
Lake Pepin
(20 miles) |
 Click
map to view full-size
Interesting Links
Boat Building in Red Wing
Historic Red Wing
Colvill
Park Boat Landing
Lake Pepin
Lake City
Hok-Si-La Campground Support
boat Arcebus Under Sail
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Anyone wishing to join us for this leg (or wishing to depart after
the previous leg) should use the public Boat Landing at Colvill
Park in Red Wing. We will arrive there between 10:30 and
11:00 AM on Saturday.
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| About 6 miles below Red Wing, the
Mississippi channel suddenly opens up into the vast expanse of
Lake Pepin. We will have about 10 miles of open water to
traverse before arriving at the beautiful Hok-Si-La campground in
Lake City.
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| Lake Pepin can get rough in windy
conditions. If need be, we will ferry participants in the
Arcebus or other support craft and tow small boats behind.
In the case of really severe weather, we will pull out at the
Colvill landing and transport people and boats in vehicles to
Hok-Si-La.
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| Sunday morning at Hok-Si-La will be a
time of lounging, sailboat rides, rehashing the trip's adventures,
and saying farewell to newly found friends. Check-out time
at the campground is 2:00 PM. Boats can be taken out
at the Lake City boat landing, which is about a half mile north of
the campground. |
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