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| Willow Falls at Willow River State Park |
The Great River Road region is a rapidly urbanizing area paralleling the St. Croix River. It makes up the western third of the county and includes the communities of Hudson, Somerset and River Falls. The region’s best sight is 45-foot-high Willow Falls, which sits in a 200-foot-high gorge.
The Central region mainly is farm country, but the cities here – New Richmond, Roberts, Hammond and Baldwin – also are growing at a faster rate than most communities across Wisconsin. Among the many great hikes here is the New Richmond Heritage Center and Paperjack Creek Trail, which gives a good sense of the area’s history while also getting back to nature.
The Eastern region still is largely untouched by the growth of the Twin Cities and remains primarily farmland and woods. A good hike that passes both pastoral scenes and forests is the Wildwood Trail, a former rail line that connects the villages of Woodville and Spring Valley.
Learn more about nearby day hiking trails in my Day Hiking Trails of St. Croix County.
