Memorial Park Red Wing, MN.
Red Wing is a beautiful city just Southeast of the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. I have done several trips through Redwing as it is a short drive down the St. Croix and Mississippi River Valleys. The river is gorgeous and the river towns are very friendly to tourists and travelers. Besides the towns and river, the terrain is very pretty and you can find all sorts of things to do from state and national parks, to vineyards, orchards and ski resorts in the valley.
On this trip, we wanted to see Memorial Park. It is on top of a very large bluff adjacent to downtown Red Wing. To get there, you actually have to drive a little south of town and take a frontage road back along the freeway to the entrance of the park. Then it is a steep and windy drive up a forested hill. The first opportunity to exit the road is to a picnic spot near the top of the bluff. It is set up with picnic tables, fire pits and a porta-potty and a view of the river to the south of town.
Continuing up a little higher, you will pop out to a surprisingly large field with a “castle.” Next to this structure is a frisbee golf course and we quickly realized the whole top of the bluff was cut to be a huge course with fairways, rough’s and more.
A one way road guides your trip on the top of the bluff. On the opposite side as you enter, there is a small parking lot that leads right up to the drop off and the city of Red Wing below. Depending on the time of year, and your own interests, the park offers more than just a scenic overlook and picnic grounds. There are historic quarries, disc golf, hiking trials, mountain biking, cross country skiing and snowshoe trails as well.
Red Wing is famous for its beautiful down town, scenic river views, pottery building, and of course, Red Wing Shoe Company. More recently, vineyards such as Falconer Vineyard have popped up nearby. Make sure you visit some of these great sites on your trip. For more on Memorial Park, visit: http://www.red-wing.org/memorialpark.html
As always, if you have a tour group or want a fun day trip, check out Freedom Getaways, LLC at freedomgetaways.com, or Chris@freedomgetaways.com for more information on group tours and trips.
I added a few great pictures below just to give you a few more views from this awesome park.
