Before reflecting on his journey as a whole, there were five parks left on the "to do" list before Luke could claim his trek complete. Here are the notes from the rest of the North Shore parks Luke visited.
Crosby Manitou: "Crosby Manitou probably falls in the under-rated category for the parks. It's the one park that's on the north shore but not on Lake Superior. It's two or three miles inland, and the park has three-full miles of trail right on the Manitou River that you can walk along. And that's some of the best set of river trails on the north shore. So that's one you should definitely hit (but they have almost no parking because they don't anticipate a lot of visitors)."
Cascade River: "Cascade River has the biggest set of overgrown trails on the north shore. If you get back in the northwest corner of the park, you[re going to get some low-trafficked trails. They're hike/ski trails, so they're groomed in the winter for XC skiing. We went up Lookout Mountain, we walked along the river and saw the cascades. And there is a full mile and a half that you can walk right along the Lake at the park. That's not something you can usually do that far up the north shore, so that's unique."
Judge CR Magney: "CR Magney is where the Devil's Kettle is, and that's famous for the mystery about where does the water go when it enters the Devil's Kettle. We walked up to that one as well as some of the less-trafficked trails. This park was the one on the north shore where I struggled the most with mosquitoes. My dad went with me and said they weren't so bad, so I guess they decided to just attack me."
Grand Portage: "Then we went straight up to Grand Portage, which is a small park, but it has the tallest waterfall in Minnesota on the Pigeon River. And then if you hike back in there, about a five-mile round-trip, you can get to the middle falls. We threw rocks into Canada and we hiked all the way back there and that was it!"
When Heidi and John asked Luke what he had taken from his journey, Luke reflected on his trip. "I'm kind of glad that it's over, but now it's like, what am I going to do for the rest of the summer?!?!?"
As a Geography major, Luke enjoyed learning about the different places he visits. "This is just a really straightforward way for me to get to know a state like the back of my hand. I feel like I'm a bit of Minnesota local now that I've been to every single county in the state."
For more information about Luke's overall ranking of the Minnesota State Parks, including which parks make up the bottom spots, listen to the full conversation by clicking the "Listen" player above. Luke also showed lots of gratitude to the people who made his trip possible, and you can hear all the names on his list by listening to the full conversation.
So what comes next for Luke? "I'm already planning on doing Wisconsin next summer, but they only have 49 State Parks....."
Good Luck, Luke, and Bon Voyage!
Here's Luke's rankings:
Tettegouche
Whitewater
Split Rock Lighthouse
Jay Cooke
Beaver Creek Valley
George H Crosby Manitou
Frontenac
Grand Portage
Temperance River
Cascade River
Judge C R Magney
Gooseberry Falls
Interstate
Banning
Great River Bluffs
John A Latsch
Glacial Lakes
Forestville Mystery Cave
Blue Mounds
Maplewood
Sibley
Camden
Carley
Bear Head Lake
Lake Bemidji
Schoolcraft
Afton
Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine
Glendalough
Lake Maria
Minneopa
Nerstrand Big Woods
Father Hennepin
Moose Lake
Savanna Portage
William O Brien
Scenic
Lake Bronson
Crow Wing
Buffalo River
Itasca
Myre-Big Island
St Croix
Fort Snelling
Split Rock Creek
Lake Carlos
Franz Jevne
Mccarthy Beach
Mille Lacs Kathio
Lake Shetek
Flandrau
Hayes Lake
Rice Lake
Monson Lake
Zippel Bay
Big Stone Lake
Old Mill
Lake Louise
Charles A Lindbergh
Kilen Woods
Upper Sioux Agency
Fort Ridgely
Wild River
Hill Annex Mine
Sakatah Lake
Lac Qui Parle
