biking — Hiking

I discovered the Rice Creek Regional Trail Corridor when a couple friends posted pictures of their kids amongst a trail of tall pine trees and I knew I wanted to find out where that place was. The following week, after buying Riley a new bike, we headed off to this trail to test it out (while Jesse and I briskly walked behind).

We basically walked from the tall pines down to the dog park and back. As with many of the trails we've hiked, there are multiple trails or spurs worth exploring. My photographer friend sent me a map pointing out things like 'cute bridge' which we completely missed turning off for since we were following our biking kid who was always a bit of a distance in front of us.

Hike #: 4

Trail: Rice Creek North Regional Trail

Location: Circle Pines, MN

Trail surface: paved

Date: 4/21/18

Our hike was one week post-blizzard and while the sun did most of the work, the trails were nice and clean and in good shape. The dog park looked fairly large and was quite popular when we were there. We wouldn't normally go out of our way for a trail like this, but I'm glad I did... and that's part of why I wanted to do this 50 hikes by 50 challenge - to explore new places. Jesse and I both were pleasantly surprised by this trail. I'll admit that I struggle with our 5 star rating system and get caught up between what makes a trail a 3 or a 4, and so forth. Basically, I try to rate it on how I felt about it that day, but also try comparing it to some of my favorite trails. At any rate, use it for guidance, but take it with a grain of salt...

Jo: ★★★

Jesse: ★★★

Riley: ★★★★