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| King's and Queen's bluffs rise some 60 stories above the Mississippi River. Photo courtesy of MNDNR. |
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| King's Bluff Trail map. |
The 4.94-miles round trip hike crosses a number of blufftop ecosystems at Minnesota’s 3000-acre Great River Bluffs State Park. A “natural state park,” Great River Bluffs deliberately has few modern amenities.
To reach the park, from Winona take U.S. Hwy. 14 south. Turn left/southwest onto County Road 3 then left/east onto the park road (aka Kipp Drive). Leave your vehicle at the gravel lot on the road’s left/west side about two miles into the park. The trailhead is at the lot’s northwest end; go left/northwest onto it. The trail is wide with a surface of either mowed grass or dirt.
Your hike begins in an open bluff prairie, full of native grasses and wildflowers. The tall dense grasslands provides the perfect home for the rare buff-colored Henslow’s sparrow. While you may not see one, you’re certain to hear its soft song that sounds like tsi-lick. While most sparrows build their nests in trees and eaves, the Henslow constructs a grass nest about 2-3 inches off the ground. Its numbers declined greatly from the 1960s through the 1980s thanks to the conversion of bluff prairies to farmland.
Oak-hickory forest
The trail soon enters a dense hardwood forest of pine, mixed oak and shagback hickory. The forest is a remnant of the oak and hickory forest that once stretched all the way from Minnesota to the Atlantic Ocean. As pioneers moved across the continent, though, the trees were cut for lumber and to open up land for farming.
About a quarter mile in, you’ll come to a junction for an interpretive nature trail; go left/west onto it. The side trail, lined with white and ash pine, heads to a vista of a small river valley that runs along the bluff’s side.
The trail loops back to the main route; when it does, go left/north. Several old, twisted, gnarled oaks, appearing like some fairy tale illustration come to life, dominate this portion of the walk.
At 0.7 miles, you’ll reach a trail junction; go left/north onto the interpretative spur trail that leads to a scenic overlook atop King’s Bluff.
King’s Bluff sits atop sediments deposited around 450 million years ago when this part of the world sat beneath a sea. As layers upon layer of sediment settled at the sea bottom, it gradually hardened into the limestone, dolomite, and sandstone that we see in the exposed bluff sides today.
Goat prairie
The interpretive trail soon enters a goat prairie. All across the river bluffs, as here, a number of south- to southwest-facing slopes sit at an angle of 50 degrees, allowing them to take in a greater amount of heat from the sun than the surrounding, more vertical rock. When winter nights cool the ground, though, the rock tends to crack and weather away in a constant cycle of freezing and thawing. This prevents trees from taking root, but grasses and wildflowers flourish.
At the end of the spur trail is a vista of the Mississippi River and its backwaters with Wisconsin on the far shoreline. Queen’s Bluff also is visible to the east. Atop it you’ll spy a rare grove of northern white cedar, a survivor from glacial times when frigid Glacial River Warren filled the river valley to the bluff tops, as meltwater flowed south to the Gulf of Mexico.
After taking in the sights, return on the spur trail to the main trail and go left/east onto it. The trail next passes through an oak forest.
At nearly 3 miles from the trailhead, another spur heads left/northwest onto Queen’s Bluff. This offers another great vista of the Mississippi River Valley. Watch the skies for the endangered peregrine falcon, which nests on the bluff. Peregrine falcons can dive at up to 200 miles per hour, making it the fastest animal alive.
The falcon is just one of many impressive creatures that inhabit the state park. Black squirrels, coyotes, eagles, opossums, spotted skunks, vultures, white-tailed deer and wild turkeys all have been spotted here. The endangered timber rattlesnake also makes its home on the bluff rocks, but sightings are rare.
Picnic at overlook
From the overlook, head back to the main trail and go left/east onto it. The trail quickly curves south.
At the next junction, head left/north. This parallels the park entrance road and ends at another great Mississippi River vista from Queen’s Bluff. Picnic tables are located near the overlook.
Once you’ve taken in the view, retrace your steps for nearly 0.3 miles back to the last junction. Rather than go the overlook, continue straight/southwest on the trail alongside the road back to your parking lot.
The hike is best done during dry weather and at least a couple of days after the last rainfall. The trail can come close to cliff edges and is slippery when wet.
Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.
