Barn Bluff, Red Wing
Thankfully, the weather was beautiful on Sunday, so I was able to do some hiking. I spent about two hours hiking up, around, and on top of Barn Bluff. Barn Bluff is that gigantic geological formation that sits between the highway and the river when you drive through Red Wing. It rises about 350 feet above the river and town.
I hit all but one of the trails - the Midland trail. I went out on the North trail and saw three groups of rock climbers trying to scale the cliffs. I also saw a hawk, or some other bird of prey while hiking the trail.
The North trail gives you views of the river and of Wisconsin. Once you make it around to the west end of the bluff, you can see over the entire town of Red Wing. There used to be a set of stairs that ran up the bluff from Red Wing, but they were removed when the highway was constructed. Some of them are still there and some have been repurposed at the trail head.
Instead of taking the South trail back, I decided to walk the Prairie trail, which follows the ridge of the bluff. It's a wonderful trail. There are moments when you can see to either side of the bluff. The picture below was taken at the very end of the trail at the eastern scenic point. I imagine this trail is fantastic in late summer when the prairie is blooming.
One note about the trail, there are unmarked footpaths that should only be followed by the very brave, or by people in a group. I followed one for a while and had to turn back. It ran along a very narrow path along the bottom of the ridge, right before a big cliff. There is nothing to catch you if you stumble on a rock and fall. I made it up to the point where the trail descends down a rock face. Being by myself and not much of a dare-devil, I thought the better of it and went back to the marked trail. It's been a long time since a trail gave me the willies like that. The last time was in Utah, hiking in Canyonlands. We had packs on our backs and had to turn toward the rock face and shimmy across a slick rock face that was a sheer 30 foot drop to rocks below. Shiver!
Comments
the picture is so beautiful, where is it?
Kurt
Posted by: Vietnamese | December 28, 2006 09:43 AM
the photo was taken from the top of barn bluff in red wing, minnesota, which is just 50 miles south of minneapolis/st. paul and sits right along the mississippi. you can't see the river in this photo but you can see for miles from atop this bluff.
Posted by: hope | December 28, 2006 04:33 PM
nice picture!!!
Posted by: Boudhda | July 18, 2007 11:11 PM
I am thinking of hiking this on my next visit to MN (in September). I will have a 6 year old with me and will be carrying a 3 yr old in a pack. I can't tell how difficult the trail is? Do you think it is manageable for the children or not? Also, how long do you think the round trip is? What amount of time do you think it would take to complete?
Thanks for any advice.
Posted by: Nicole | August 10, 2007 04:51 PM
barn bluff, with kids? hmmm, might be a bit tricky. there are parts where they could be just fine. especially if they like scrambling over rocks and up switchbacks. but when you get to the top of the bluff, there are areas that they could get to quickly and then fall off of. you'd really have to use your own judgment though. my kid is 13 and can handle the trails, when i actually convince him to go on them.
Posted by: hope | September 7, 2007 07:51 PM