Hastings, MN

We trapped another squirrel…number 15! So off we went to transport it to the Squirrel Resort, 12 miles from our house. 

Then we continued on, driving the back roads to Hastings, Minnesota for a walk.

Hastings has designed a lovely, paved trail along the Mississippi River. It provides benches, interesting informational signage, and a large picnic pavilion. The trail leads right up to Lock & Dam No. 2. 

Saturday was sunny, and not too windy or cold, so we decided to take our daily walk in Hastings. We parked in a lot near the pavilion which provides ample, free parking.

The trail begins at the pavilion, close to an old working railroad lift bridge that “lifts” to let large boats float underneath, when needed.

We walked about 1.5 miles to the Lock & Dam and were fortunate enough to be there as they were bringing a large barge through, in two separate maneuvers. We’ve watched this kind of operation before and it is always fascinating. 

There was river traffic…besides the barges there were boats with fishermen fishing, and a couple of tug boats. There was both pedestrian and bicycle traffic along the paved River Walk trail, and two trains rambled by across the river on the tracks. There was a lot of activity to watch…which is cheap entertainment in this time of pandemic.

Hastings is a county seat with a historic downtown and about 38 miles from Northfield if you drive the direct route (which is also picturesque). We drove through downtown and noticed several antique stores were open but we didn’t stop this time. We did stop however, to get a hot, caramel mocha for our ride back home! Yum.

We’ve always enjoyed going for drives in the country and exploring small towns…I’m sure we’ll be going for a lot more this fall and winter.