A Fun Night in Forestville State Park

My boys and I spent a night at Forestville State Park this past weekend. We stayed in a camper cabin there 3.5 years ago when it was my wife's first time in a camper cabin, but this time, it was just me and the fellas.

Henry helping cart his/our stuff to our cabin.


In a tree near Historic Forestville (a preserved 120 year old town).


Playing down in the Root River next to Historic Forestville.


The boys LOVED throwing rocks at the thin ice.




Another spot to play a bit downstream.




Unpacked in our messy camper cabin.


Hamsteak (cooked over the firepit), apples, carrots, and tangerines.

While we were prepping supper, the park was dead calm. Then suddenly, for about 90 seconds, a pack of coyotes went NUTS quite close to us back in the forest. It may have been the most memorable moment of the trip for my boys. I was surprised that they LOVED it and weren't scared. CRANK YOUR VOLUME and listen to this:

Direct link: youtu.be/bjJ15irRoNY


Warming by the fire.


Campfire selfie.


Henry's smiling because we're playing cards. Charlie's smiling
because he's swiping one of Henry's toys from his bunk.


Teaming up on Dad. (They beat me.)


Journal entry in the cabin journal.


Sign in the vault toilet: "Do not attempt to handle raccoons." Shucks.


The boys reading in their top bunks just before "lights out."


Henry had just discovered one of my old hats and LOVED it.


Charlie telling me all kinds of animal facts.

It was my first time sleeping under Charlie in a bunk bed. He's kind of a "thumper," so I didn't sleep that well. Usually in camper cabins, I sleep pretty decently for either the start or end of the night, and that was the case here: I slept well from about 10-2, but then it was pretty crappy. The beautiful 20 degree morning made up for some of that:

A "first" that worked well: "Never Any" brand (from Aldi) chicken sausages over
the fire. Charlie thought he'd hate them... but then I was only left with 1 to eat.


Henry scarfed 2 sausages before this photo: breakfast was sausages, oatmeal, and bananas.


Some SUPERVISED and SHORT playing with the fire.

We headed to a recommended hike that was about a 1-2 mile drive away - we needed to exit the park and come back in to a different area. If you haven't been to Forestville in a few years, check out this hike. It's land that was added to the park just over 5 years ago, so the trail is even "younger." I don't recall this being here when we camped here in 2017. It's the Palisade Trail.

We pulled into a tiny unassuming parking lot next to a big steel quonset hut. Henry saw the quonset and asked "is this a military base?" No buddy. Just a former farm.

They found big sticks. Here we are heading down a nice hill.


I didn't know it yet, but that pine tree in the distance was across the Root River.


The river's edge. My boys LOVE water. The majority
of this trail is right along the river (look above Henry's head).


Popping back to a grassy area for a moment...


... and then, CLIFFS!






The boys thought all of this was amazing. They could have stayed and played here all morning!


We'd find little rocky areas to play at the water's edge.


On a mini rocky "island" - we had to jump a
narrow part of the river to the right to get on this.


Other end of the "island." With a view!


All the photos don't do it justice, but the calm 20 degree morning had
covered EVERYTHING with a Christmas-like layer of frost.

The trail bent with the river, and then we just had a small hill to climb to take us back to our car. It was a mile-long hike that was maybe the second best part of the trip (after the coyote's howling).

A shot of the trail map by the parking lot: there's the tiny "disconnected" trail.

I wonder (and kind of hope) that they can build a small footbridge over the river and connect that trail up with the group camp. Or maybe just swing a trail wide around the bend in the river (and the private property). It's a great hike!

We were packed-up pre-hike, but we left out the fixins' for hot cocoa!


Regarding my note in the cabin's log: we hid pennies all over the cabin
for the next kids to find. I'm standing on a bench to have this view.


Bye Mink! (Oh, and we found mink footprints in the snow
on the trail to Mink cabin, and the boys thought that was cool.)


Henry was reading, and Charlie was passed out!