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| Cascade Falls in Osceola, Wis. |
To the west on the other side of the St. Croix River, is Washington County, Minnesota. Among its great day hikes are the Kettlekamp Prairie Trail, which runs through a restored prairie at the Belwin Conservancy. Afton State Park’s North River Trail is a tranquil dirt path running next to the St. Croix River’s widest section. In the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway are the four-story Fairy Falls and the historic Boom Site with its sandstone formations, both just north of Stillwater. Hikers can learn about the power of floods on the St. Croix River via the Riverside Trail at William O’Brien State Park.
Polk County, where Wisconsin’s farmland begins to give way to the Northwoods, sits to the north. Some of the best scenery along the St. Croix River can be found there. Nearby hikes include: the Cascade Falls Trail, which heads to a 25-foot waterfall in Osceola; the Stower Seven Lakes State Trail, which runs west of Amery through peaceful woodland, serene ponds, and picturesque farms; and the Clear Lake-Clayton Trail, an old rail line turned hiking trail that connects its namesake cities.
Heading deeper into central Wisconsin is Dunn County, which is similar in terrain and feel to eastern St. Croix County. Mainly farm country, there are a few good trails at the Bjornson Education-Recreation Center, most notably a loop that passes a bubbling creek.
To the south is Pierce County, where the St. Croix River ultimately flows into the Mississippi. The Purple Trail takes hikers to that confluence at Kinnickinnic State Park. A little upstream, the Glen Park Trail heads over 500 million-year-old rock in River Falls. On the county’s east side, hikers can explore Wisconsin’s largest cave via the Crystal Cave Tour.
St. Croix County also shares a tangential boundary with Barron County.
Learn more about nearby day hiking trails in my Day Hiking Trails of St. Croix County guidebook.
